(Cross-posted at The National Gadfly)
Wikileaks servers are overloaded and cannot operate. They recently posted a secret list of a proposed banned sites.
According to Forbes, the scope of Australia’s internet censorship has developed far beyond its initial aim to block child pornography and web pages associated with terrorism. Free speech advocates fear it could be used to block legitimate activity.
Wikileaks recently published a complete list of the proposed blacklist sites currently under review in Australia, under the guise of protecting the people of Australia from child pornography. The Australian government has issued a statement calling the list a fake and threatening action against Wikileaks. Wikileaks is standing behind the list’s authenticity and has issued a statement informing the Australian government of their full rights to publish the list as well as a promise to pursue legal action against anyone attempting to censor Wikileaks.
There are some excellent articles on these events at the following links:
FORBES:
Aussie Internet Blacklist Has Gray Areas
WIRED:
Australia Censors Wikileaks Page
Excerpt:
The federal government in Australia has been wanting to force all ISPs to use the list to censor the internet for everyone, but that plan has sputtered under severe criticism from online liberty groups and technical experts.
But just last week, ACMA forced Whirlpool to remove a user forum link that pointed to graphic pictures on an anti-abortion website. ACMA threatened the site’s hosting provider with fines of $11,000 a day if the link was not removed.
That, free speech advocates say, shows the censorship regime isn’t limited to fighting child pornography and will be used to block legitimate political speech.
GUARDIAN (UK):
Wikileaks taken offline after publishing Australia’s banned websites
IT NEWS:
ACMA blacklist proves too popular for Wikileaks
LEZGETREAL:
Australian Government Purposed to Ban Gay Websites
UBER REVIEW:
What the Leaked Australian Internet Blacklist Says About Censorship
Excerpt:
Then there are the technical aspects of censorship. It constricts rapidly increasing traffic and slows the flow of information. It is not simply a matter of blocking access to the sites on the list; all Internet use must be monitored in order to prevent access to the blacklisted sites. Thus, as the number of sites on the list grows, the speed of user traffic will decrease. Australia’s Internet is already embarrassingly slow for a developed country a nation-wide filtration system would constitute a further step back.
COURIER NEWS:
Scared men wear secrecy veil: Terry Sweetman
Excerpt:
SECRECY, said British judge Sir John Chadwick, is the badge of fraud. He was speaking in the context of financial fraud but it seems equally to apply in Australia where governments wear the badge while robbing us of our freedoms, all the while pretending to do precisely the opposite.
Wikileaks needs money to upgrade their servers and get more bandwidth. This is where you can and need to help! Please, go to Wikileaks and donate right now to donate $10 or more. The enemies of free information are the enemies of us all.
Wikileaks is on the front line of the fight for accountability, transparency and accountability. Please help.
-gadfly