Re: Australia to Require Mandatory ISP Filtering of "Inappropriate" Content

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: David Burt [david_burt () filteringfacts org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 10:50 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Australia to Require Mandatory ISP Filtering of "Inappropriate" Content

But what's wrong with offering "opt out" instead of "opt in" filtering, as long as it's relatively easy and private to 
opt out?  This will help keep kids safe.   Heck, even the ACLU agrees software is the better solution, per this Oct 23, 
2007 entry on their website:
"Keep Kids Safe with Software, Not Censorship"
http://blog.aclu.org/index.php?/archives/318-Keep-Kids-Safe-with-Software,-Not-Censorship.html
Mandatory "Opt Out" filtering of pornographic sites by ISPs I think is the next wave in democratic countries. Japan is 
also planning it (see story below).  I think this is a trend that will accelerate in democratic countries as societies 
look for new ways to protect children from the inundation of pornography on the Internet.  Would this work in the U.S.? 
 I think the ISPs would fight it like hell, and the civil liberties groups would too. But if "opting out" were easy 
enough and reasonably anonymous, I think the current Supreme Court might uphold it.

 Eweek story on Japan's opt-out filtering proposal :
In response to complaints from parents, the Japanese government in December ordered mobile carriers NTT Docomo, KDDI, 
Softbank and Willcom to begin implementing mobile phone filtering for minors. Mobile phone online filtering already is 
available by the Japanese carriers, but according to Gyaku.jp<http://Gyaku.jp>, few use the option. The proposed 
regulations would strengthen existing policy by requiring online filtering to be the default setting for phones 
intended for minors. The filtering could be turned off with the explicit request of the minor's patent or guardian. 
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2242756,00.asp
More stuff on my blog at www.filteringfacts.org<http://www.filteringfacts.org/>

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