Govt internet filter going live is sad day for NZ Thursday, 11 March 2010
" The Department of Internal Affairs has admitted that the " internet filter is now operational and is already being " used by ISPs Maxnet and Watchdog. It appears that Maxnet " have not told their customers that they are diverting " some of their internet traffic to the government system " to be filtered. " " Thomas Beagle, spokesperson for Tech Liberty, "We're " very disappointed that the filter is now running, it's " a sad day for the New Zealand internet." " " The DIA refuses to say which other ISPs will be joining " the filter, claiming the right to negotiate in secret. " Tech Liberty understands that Telstra Clear, Telecom " and Vodafone have said they will implement the filter, " with Orcon, Slingshot and Natcom saying that they won't. " " David Zanetti, technical spokesperson for Tech Liberty, " "We fear that the filter will reduce the stability of " the internet in New Zealand. It is a single point of " failure, introduces a new and very tempting target " for hackers, and by diverting traffic will cause issues " with modern internet applications." " " Tech Liberty is concerned about the expansion of " government powers represented by the filter. It " establishes the principle that the government can " choose to arbitrarily set up a new censorship scheme " and choose which material to block, with no reference " to existing law. Even worse, the list of what is " filtered is kept secret, in direct contrast to the " rest of New Zealand's censorship regime where the " Chief Censor must publish decisions banning offensive " material. " " The US government has recently spoken out against " government filtering of the internet, with Secretary " of State Hilary Clinton saying that "Those who disrupt " the free flow of information in our society, or any " other, pose a threat to our economy, our government " and our civil society." She then said that the US " is committed to helping people to circumvent government " internet filtering.
Wonderful. So now what, the USA invades New Zealand to liberate its Internet? Note New Zealand is an Echelon partner with the USA. For those who've forgotten, Echelon is a worldwide USA program monitoring all telecom, Internet and radio transmissions; Russia's program is named SORM-IV.