Internet activists take on Australian authorities

It appears as though the Australian government’s recent announcement that it proposes to apply filters to Internet activity within Australia has prompted a severe reaction among some Internet users. A group known as “Anonymous” has revealed that it was behind a well-planned and a well orchestrated attack on Australian government websites which forced the authorities to take various sites off-line for some time.

The BBC in the UK has learned that the protests will continue for the foreseeable future until such time as the Australian authorities agree to revise their plans or the “activists become bored”. So what is going on?

Australian government plans for the Internet

When the Internet first came to the fore many people believed it was something of a fad which would disappear in due course to be replaced by something else. However, the Internet is now a part of everyday life touching all areas of business, communication and social networking. This has prompted the Australian government, like many others around the world, to look at filtering access to various content and various websites to ensure no illegal material can be circulated.

However, many Internet activists believe this denial of access to certain websites and certain content does not address the issue as the content in question will be presented in other forms. There are also growing concerns that the Australian government, which would set up a committee to look at which content and which sites should be filtered, could use this new power to filter out content and websites which may be legal but could criticise the authorities or prominent figures.

Distributed denial of service

The activists in question are said to number around 500 in total and working together from sites around the world they have basically set up a system which bombards the Australian government websites, and prominent politician websites, with junk traffic. The constant bombardment of the sites basically overloads the system forcing administrators to take them down intermittently.

The attacks on the Australian Government websites occurred between the 10th and 11th of February and saw a number of vital services effectively taken off-line. There are rumours that the “Anonymous” group was also to blame for other attacks around the world including cyber attacks on the Iranian government website network and the Scientology movement. Due to a complex proxy system it is near impossible to accurately identify where these attacks are coming from although the Australian authorities are unlikely to giving to this new form of “cyber blackmail”.

Why have the authorities decided to filter Internet access?

It has also been revealed that companies such as Google have been contacted by the Australian authorities with a request to bar access in Australia to certain content available on their YouTube network. This is where the grey area comes into play because the material in question is neither illegal in Australia nor breaking any copyright laws. Google has done, and continues to, abided by various legal differences around the world and the Australian YouTube network is no different.

Many believe this is the first stage of a concerted attack by governments around the world to control the Internet and the content which is available to the masses. However, activist groups such as “Anonymous” are concerned that these new powers could be abused and also the fact that if any illegal content is available around the world then the authorities should be chasing those producing this material. Simply pushing illegal material underground does not address the issue and would appear to indicate that governments round the world have given up hope of prosecuting those who produce such material.

Conclusion

While the Australian government is currently under significant pressure from activist groups, consumer groups, business groups and Internet users in the country the truth is that many other governments around the world have done, or plan to, introduce similar filtering. Cyberspace has a power which no other communication medium in the world can match with information literally available in a split second around the globe. Controlling illegal or banned material would appear to be a legitimate goal but whether filtering out such information, rather than attacking those creating it, is the best way forward remains to be seen.

It looks as though this particular issue is set to go on for some time yet and is the latest in a long line of expected high profile battles between Internet users and the authorities around the world.

Related Posts

1. Australian newspapers online
2. Internet Access in Australia to be filtered

Tagged as: Internet