
Australia blocks access to Wikileaks, $11K/day fine for linking to it (2009) - mcantelon
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/australian-government-adds-wikileaks-to-banned-website-list-585894
======
pg
Why is it that 90% of the stories we hear involving Australia and technology
are about stupid moves by the government? Is there something unique about
Australia?

~~~
tomjen3
Selectivity bias. Australia doesn't do much else that would be worth
mentioning in these circles (when was the last time an Australian startup did
anything interesting) while the actions of the government are exactly the kind
of news that gets posted here.

~~~
anthonyb
_> when was the last time an Australian startup did anything interesting_

How about Wireless networking? <http://www.csiro.au/science/wireless-
LANs.html>

You're welcome.

~~~
angusgr
This is a good example of Australian innovation (far from the only one), but
CSIRO not really a "startup", it's a national research institution.

~~~
anthonyb
It was developed by a team of five researchers:

[http://www.csiro.au/news/CSIRO-wireless-team-wins-top-
Aussie...](http://www.csiro.au/news/CSIRO-wireless-team-wins-top-Aussie-
science-award.html)

Maybe not a startup in the strict sense of the word, but pretty close -
especially when you consider the limited funding available to most scientists.

------
thangalin
(a) Google this:

site:.gov.au blog +comments +submit -moderate

(b) Pick a blog. For example:

[http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/2010/11/18/independent-
review-o...](http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/2010/11/18/independent-review-of-
the-ict-reform-program-released/comment-page-1/)

(c) Add a comment. For example:

I am concerned that the rights of Australian citizens are being unjustly
impinged. To fine someone $11k per day because they choose to link to a
website is a slap in the face of free speech and free citizens of the world.

<a href=<http://www.wikileaks.org> >wikileaks.org</a>

------
jaysonelliot
I often forget how much we take for granted our right to free speech in
America, until I read a story from a country that doesn't have the same
constitutional protections.

~~~
StavrosK
This is tangential, but I only appreciated Greek airtravel when I had a TSA
agent grope me when entering the US. In my case, I actually _experienced_ your
lack of constitutional protections (or constitution in general, in airports),
and I have another such experience to look forward to when leaving.

~~~
jaysonelliot
The trouble with our constitutional protections is that they only mean
something when we stand up to enforce them.

There's been an awful lot of trampling on the Constitution in the past decade
or so.

~~~
StavrosK
Well, for what it's worth, I'm standing up by objecting to the strip machines
at least.

------
nl
Could the title of this be changed please? This was from March 2009 and is
unrelated to the Wikileaks cablegate thing. (Having both on the same page is
confusing a lot of people)

~~~
mcantelon
Done.

------
iwr
This is not just about Wikileaks, but all websites deemed objectionable by the
government. Remember the original motive behind such laws: protecting children
online.

~~~
jaysonelliot
I'd call that less of a "motive" and more of a "rationalization."

~~~
hugh3
Actually the scary thing is I think that it really _is_ the motivation.

Good intentions are usually the culprit when bad things happen.

------
ScottBurson
Easily circumvented; just link to a site that links to WikiLeaks. If many
thousands of such sites appear, the government won't be able to keep up with
them.

EDIT: And if they try to outlaw the transitive closure of sites that link to
WikiLeaks, they'll probably soon find that's most of the Web.

------
aussiewoop
STORY IS FAKE.

Aussie here, I have access to wikileaks.org right now from my Sydney-based
ISP. There is no internet censorship in Australia as the idea is politically
dead for now.

Yes, it wikileaks was added to _a_ blacklist, one that is used by government
employees at work. Basically no one uses that list.

Submitter 'mcantelon' needs some banhammer for fake stories.

~~~
angusgr
The story is correct, the headline is misleading.

The article says it's on the ACMA blacklist, and if you link to a site on the
blacklist from an Australian website then you are eligible to be fined.
Whether anyone has since been fined for leaking to Wikileaks, I don't know.

If/when our abomination of an internet filter idea comes in, then it will
become blocked by the filter. I think 2013 is the soonest anyone thinks that
will happen.

~~~
angusgr
(article seems to have been shown incorrect/outdated as of today:
[http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-
blacklis...](http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-
blacklist-339307604.htm) )

------
pasbesoin
"March 17th 2009"

------
robryan
The filter isn't mandatory at this time, I think some ISP's are either test
running it or have done so in the past. It may not actually happen, at least
for the next 3 years, it may not pass if they reintroduce the legislation.

------
toast76
The article (as well as being old) is also false.

"Currently, the ACMA list of prohibited URLs that is notified to accredited
filter providers does not contain any URLs within the Wikileaks website," the
ACMA told ZDNet Australia in a statement. "Since April 2010, the ACMA has
investigated two complaints about specific pages of content on the Wikileaks
website, which both resolved to content found to be not prohibited."

[http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-
blacklis...](http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-
blacklist-339307604.htm)

------
ElbertF
I can access Wikileaks from Australia just fine, I guess the ban has been
lifted since March '09 (the date of this article)?

~~~
aik
Same here. Definitely not blocked anymore...

------
csomar
The fine for linking to Wikileaks made me lol. And what if there isn't a link,
one can do a Google Search and find the WikiLeaks website. It's not necessary
that you make a link to the website, so you can access it. Second, people
won't probably read Wikileaks directly but analysis and summaries by
newspapers and blogs.

------
chrismiller
This article is from March 2009. I haven't heard of a single fine being issued
for this.

As a side note the internet filter mentioned in the article never received
enough votes and the government minister in charge of the program conceded
that it likely never will.

------
VladRussian
>While Australia's list of blacklisted sites currently stands at 1,370, the
Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that that list could increase to around
10,000 sites – most of which are of illegal pornographic content, but could
also includes sites that house incendiary political discussions.

yep. WikiLeaks is like a political pornography - in the sense that everybody
knows about and does "it", yet it is a "bad" thing to publish details of "it".

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sudonim
G'day mates... you should organize a mass protest in australia... go buy a
bunch of wikileaks.org shirts and wear them in public like people did with the
DeCSS shirt. <http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2000/08/37941>

------
1010011010
Australia: _sigh_. I used to think that a nation originally populated by
England's criminals would be less likely to initiate stupid police actions
like this than it seems to be -- but that was naive thinking on my part.

------
mkramlich
Australia is one of the few so-called "good guy" Western/democratic countries
that seems to be out-creepy-ifying the USA lately. And that's hard to do.

