Inside Internet Filtering

This week the Australian government called for “Expression of Interest” from ISP’s in Australia to begin a live pilot of ISP Level filtering.  They have asked all ISP’s to lodge questions by November 18th, and hope to begin testing as early as December 24th 2008.  The estimated length of the pilot will be 6 weeks.  The pilot would ideally look at broadband, wireless, and dialup Internet access.

As previously speculated, the government is asking for ISP’s to participate in two different levels of filtering: one that blocks only ACMA blacklist sites, and one that extends the filtering to cover unwanted Internet content.

The government has indicated that limited funding will be available to help defray the cost associated with the pilot program, however, they don’t detail the specific amount available, which likely means it will be negotiated with each ISP.

Another interesting element is the fact that ISP’s will be able to charge customers during the pilot period for any filtering provided that goes beyond simply blocking the ACMA blacklist or illegal content.

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