Great Wall of Australia: Industry cops sanitized Internet
14.05.2008
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has pushed ahead with the controversial national content filtering scheme with a A$125.8 million (US$116.2 million) budget allocation announced Wednesday.
The plan has provoked a wrath of criticism from industry and privacy groups, who previously attacked the scheme when it was announced in January.
Conroy said ISP content filtering will be part of a wider plan to fight child pornography, including $49 million to aid Australian Federal Police law enforcement.
"The Internet has exposed [children] to continually emerging and evolving dangers that did not previously exist," Conroy said.
"While there may be technical and cost hurdles [for content filtering], the message from other countries is that these can be overcome.
"Cyber-safety means helping parents and teachers as well as educating children to be good cyber-citizens."