
Leaked Australian blacklist reveals banned sites - nreece
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/19/1237054961100.html
======
joshsharp
We're hoping the leaking of the list comes as a real blow to the government's
"clean feed" censorship plans. The list already includes legal poker sites,
and the websites of a tourism operator and a dentist.

All this censorship nonsense really makes me ashamed to be Australian.

~~~
jhancock
After you spend a few more hours being ashamed, get MAD!!!

I would be highly surprised if the "bill of goods" sold to the AU gov is
dissimilar to the well proven Great Firewall of China. This means you have
major companies (you know who they are) profiting from the mega-routers needed
to employ this solution.

Find out which of your politicos is profiting from this..I'm sure some are.
Everything points to money!!!

For those American's that think "this would never happen here"...think again.
This AU firewall-in-progress is a serious battleground for freedom of speech
of all developed nations.

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paulgb
Here's the list: [http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/acma-secret-blacklist-
au...](http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/acma-secret-blacklist-aug-2008.txt)

Wikileaks page:
[http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Australian_government_secret_ACMA_...](http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Australian_government_secret_ACMA_internet_censorship_blacklist%2C_6_Aug_2008)

Note that some are hostnames but others are actual URIs, not just domains. So
not only are they filtering certain hosts, they are presumably sniffing HTTP
packets.

------
dejb
So far people have identified the following in the list

\- Ordinary porn sites (thehun, xtube) including one that is operated from
Australia (abbywinters)

\- All of the major poker sites

\- Betting exchange Betfair which operates legally in Australia

\- A dentist and a dog kennel

I hope this finally kills the filtering project.

~~~
whatusername
\- There was also a myspace profile \- A youtube profile (or vid - can't
remember) \- An amusing sendup of fundy Christianity \- The Danish blocked URI
list on wikileaks \- that abortion/fetus image

(We know that the last 2 are on the actual ACMA blacklist itself - the others
might just be the filtering company...)

------
donaq
_"Under existing laws the ACMA blacklist includes URLs relating to child
sexual abuse, rape, incest, bestiality, sexual violence and detailed
instruction in crime," Senator Conroy said._

 _No one interested in cyber safety would condone the leaking of this list._

That's a red herring. Leaking the list merely informs people about what is
being banned. It does not compromise "cyber safety" since it does not unban
the sites on the list.

~~~
brc
I came to post the exact same thing. The familiar government cry of 'won't
someone think of the children'.

I note with interest the mention of the Federal Police (like FBI for US
residents) looking into it. Just what is the AFP going to do if someone
obtains the information from a foreign location, and then posts it on a non-
Australian website? Send them a threatening letter?

The beauty of the internet is that it continues to evade politicians attempts
to regulate, control and tax. You need a totalitarian state to gain complete
control, and even that is very porous.

------
dejb
Senator Conroy is now saying the the list is not the real blacklist

[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520929.htm?se...](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520929.htm?section=australia)

~~~
catch23
wouldn't it be easy to verify? just have an external proxy and start comparing
html pages from a normal connection. If there are differences in the html dom,
then that site should be flagged.

~~~
pufuwozu
We aren't being filtered yet.

~~~
brc
Isn't the blacklist an input to the client-based filter the government
introduced a year or so ago?

~~~
jhancock
its my understanding the client was just the beginning. AU is implementing a
full-on China-style firewall that sniffs packets on the fly. Welcome to the
People's Republic of Australia!!!

------
nopassrecover
Almost wonder if this was deliberately leaked so that everyone looks at the
list and goes - "oh okay it's just porn etc." and stops thinking about the
real issue.

------
rgrieselhuber
What a bunch of jokers.

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radu_floricica
It's not that I'm not interested in this, I am, but it is clearly reddit
material. You wouldn't duplicate code, would you?

~~~
jhancock
This AU firewall is most likely going to end up being what China has in place.
China's is a solid packet filtering beast that allows the government to
control whatever info it wants!!!

For a country like AU that supposedly has similar citizens rights as in the
U.S., its a sign of things to come for many developed nations.

This is critical Hacker News. Not rumor and gossip.

~~~
radu_floricica
Finally a reply and not just downvotes! Thanks.

I don't mean it's rumor or gossip - I find interesting discussion on reddit.
It's the general topic I have an issue with. It's (VERY) newsworthy, but I'm
not sure it's in any way hacker-related.

