No Clean Feed - well duh!

I congratulate Melbourne-based open source consultant and activist Donna Benjamin for joining the chorus of IT people fed up (no pun!) with the government's desire to "clean feed" Australia's Internet traffic.

Donna sent a message to IT minister Senator Stephen Conroy, Finance minister Lindsay Tanner (her local federal rep), opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and myself earlier today explaining why it's such a lame idea that isn't worth spending any time or money on.

Read Donna's blog post here.

Let me review the key points.

1. It will be ineffective.

I'd go a step further Donna and say it will be damn impossible. Earlier this year at AusCERT I covered a story that briefly mentioned any attempt to inspect data packets at a large ISP is a futile exercise even if you could find equipment to do it that doesn't "cost about as much as Australia!"

Furthermore, it's quite possible people could circumvent the "protection" via anonymity networks and the like.

2. The government should not regulate content.

Too right. Any attempt to do so would be quickly branded as a sign of totalitarian dictatorship, but for some reason the fear of inappropriate content gives a modern liberal democracy like Australia the right to vet ALL Internet feeds? Baloney!

3. The concept of illegal information needs to be examined.

The idea of a clean feed is like saying everyone is guilty until proven innocent and is just not appropriate for the majority of adults that use the Internet for business and research.

Thanks for pursuing the issue with the pollies Donna. Minister Conroy would be far better off spending the Clean Feed money on IT education and training programs for Australia's youth. That way it will broaden their minds, not "protect" them.