JamesFarnell

A clean-feed filtering can be debated on two levels. 1st, a practical level ie network slowdowns, overblocking, underblocking and circumvention. On this level, previous trials have shown large slowdowns with poor blocking rates. The slowdowns go against what Labor have promised (a faster national network). The poor blocking rates highlight a similar problem to a 99% uptime promise; being a 3 day per year downtime. Small percentages of blocking errors amount to large numbers of pages incorrectly blocked or let through. The finer points of this first, practical level can only be debated about a particular system, especially in regards to circumvention but general experience is that programs to reduce underblocking result in more overblocking and slows down the network most. Methods to prevent circumvention through the use of secure networks etc will impact more on business using the internet for secure transactions. A method of recourse for overblocked pages must also be available, given the economic impact of an incorrectly blocked page could have on a business. The debate about if such filtering is required or desired needs to be weighed against the technical realities. To do this, more details about the filtering proposal needs to be released. Keeping these things behind closed doors makes people wary of such measures being rushed through before debate can be had on the actual proposal, not the vague hints provided so far.