Electronic Frontiers Australia

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Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
Electronic Frontiers Australia logo.png
AbbreviationEFA
FormationMay 1994;26 years ago (1994-05)
Type NGO
Registration no.101007096
Focus digital rights
Area served
Australia
Key people
Lyndsey Jackson, Chair
Website www.efa.org.au

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit Australian national non-government organisation representing Internet users concerned with online liberties and rights. It has been vocal on the issue of Internet censorship in Australia. [1]

Contents

Its main objective is to protect and promote the civil liberties of users and operators of computer-based communications systems such as the Internet. It also advocates the amendment of laws and regulations in Australia and elsewhere which restrict free speech as well educating the community at large about the social, political, and civil-liberties issues involved in the use of computer-based communications systems. [1]

The organisation has warned against privacy invasions following the distribution of a draft code of practice for ISPs and their response to cybercrime. [2] It has also warned against intellectual property clauses in free trade agreements between Australia and the United States.

History

EFA was created in 1994. [1] Its founders were inspired by the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), [3] but EFA is not affiliated with the EFF. [4] EFA is a founding member of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. [5]

In 1999, the organisation moved against legislation aiming to filter internet pornography and other material deemed unfit for public consumption online that was pursued by politicians such as Brian Harradine. [6]

The EFA spoke out against the rulings in relation to convicted Holocaust denier Fredrick Töben and his Adelaide Institute, [7] taking the view that "when encountering racist or hateful speech, the best remedy to be applied is generally more speech, not enforced silence." [8] One of the reasons mentioned is that suppressing such content results in perception that the speaker must have something important to say, and "massively increased interest in what would otherwise be marginal ideas."

In 2006, the EFA pushed against Cleanfeed, a mandatory ISP level content filtration system proposed by Kim Beazley. [9] Internet filtering was later pursued by Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy. The EFA presented a petition against mandatory internet filtering with 19,000 signatures to the Australian Senate. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Content-control software, commonly referred to as an Internet filter, is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet user is capable to access, especially when utilised to restrict material delivered over the Internet via the Web, e-mail, or other means. Content-control software determines what content will be available or be blocked.

Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen individual rights and freedoms by defining, promoting, and influencing technology policy and the architecture of the Internet.

Internet censorship in Australia is enforced by both the country's criminal law as well as voluntarily enacted by internet service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a blocklist of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software. The restrictions focus primarily on child pornography, sexual violence, and other illegal activities, compiled as a result of a consumer complaints process.

Cleanfeed is the name given to various privately administered ISP level content filtering systems operating in the United Kingdom and Canada, and as of May 2012 undergoing testing in Australia with a view to future mandatory implementation. These government-mandated programs originally attempted to block access to child pornography and abuse content located outside of the nation operating the filtering system.

Internet censorship Control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the internet

Internet censorship is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet enacted by regulators, or on their own initiative. Individuals and organizations may engage in self-censorship for moral, religious, or business reasons, to conform to societal norms, due to intimidation, or out of fear of legal or other consequences.

Internet censorship in the United States is the suppression of information published or viewed on the Internet in the United States. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression against federal, state, and local government censorship.

Internet censorship in the United Kingdom is conducted under a variety of laws, judicial processes, administrative regulations and voluntary arrangements. It is achieved by blocking access to sites as well as the use of laws that criminalise publication or possession of certain types of material. These include English defamation law, the Copyright law of the United Kingdom, regulations against incitement to terrorism and child pornography.

Censorship in Denmark has been prohibited since 1849 by the Constitution:

§ 77: Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing, and in speech, subject to his being held responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.

Cyberethics Philosophic study of ethics pertaining to computers

Cyberethics is the philosophic study of ethics pertaining to computers, encompassing user behavior and what computers are programmed to do, and how this affects individuals and society. For years, various governments have enacted regulations while organizations have defined policies about cyberethics.

Mike Godwin American attorney and author

Michael Wayne Godwin is an American attorney and author. He was the first staff counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and he created the Internet adage Godwin's law and the notion of an Internet meme, as reported in the October 1994 issue of Wired. From July 2007 to October 2010, he was general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation. In March 2011, he was elected to the Open Source Initiative board. Godwin has served as a contributing editor of Reason magazine since 1994. In April 2019, he was elected to the Internet Society board. From 2015 to 2020, he was general counsel and director of innovation policy at the R Street Institute. In August 2020, he and the Blackstone Law Group were filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of the employees of TikTok.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet civil liberties.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States.

Internet censorship in Ireland is a controversial issue with the introduction of a graduated response policy in 2008 followed by an effort to block certain file sharing sites starting in February 2009. Beyond these issues there are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Irish law provides for freedom of speech including for members of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system act jointly to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.

La Quadrature du Net

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Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.

The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 is a United States bill designed with the stated intention of increasing enforcement of laws related to the prosecution of child pornography and child sexual exploitation offenses. Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), sponsor of H.R. 1981, stated that, "When investigators develop leads that might result in saving a child or apprehending a pedophile, their efforts should not be frustrated because vital records were destroyed simply because there was no requirement to retain them."

There were different but similar copyright bills in the 112th United States Congress: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House of Representatives and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate. A typical route for legislation like this is to pass some version in both houses, then refer the two bills to a conference committee, which would produce a single bill likely to pass both houses.

The Walsh Report was an Australian cryptography policy review undertaken for the Australian government by Gerard Walsh, initially released in 1996 and then withdrawn before its sale to the public. Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) obtained a redacted copy under freedom of information laws and published it on EFA's website. Subsequently, an unredacted copy was found and the redacted parts were added to the EFA copy.

Internet censorship in Switzerland is regulated by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland on a case by case basis. Internet services provided by the registered with BAKOM Internet service providers (ISPs) are subject to a "voluntary recommendation" by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, which requires blocking of websites just after 18.12.2007. As of October 2015, this might change soon and additional topics like Online gambling are on the focus now.

Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) is an Indian non-governmental organisation that conducts advocacy on digital rights and liberties, based in New Delhi. IFF files petitions and undertakes advocacy campaigns to defend online freedom, privacy, net neutrality, and innovation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Green, Jonathon; Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005). Encyclopedia of Censorship . New York: Facts on File, Inc. p.  165. ISBN   1438110014 . Retrieved 22 June 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  2. Giacomello, Giampiero (2004). National Governments and Control of the Internet: A Digital Challenge. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN   113432393X . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. Allison, G. Burgess (1995). The lawyer's guide to the Internet . Section of Law Practice Management, American Bar Association. p.  257. ISBN   1570731497 . Retrieved 10 July 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  4. Bowrey, Kathy (2005). Law and Internet Cultures . Cambridge University Press. p.  190. ISBN   0521600480 . Retrieved 16 June 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  5. Wadsen, Wayne (1998). Cryptography and liberty: an international survey of encryption policy. Global Internet Liberty Campaign. p. 67. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  6. Sandy, Geoffrey A (2001). "The Government "Downunder" Attempts To Censor the Net". In Salehnia, Ali (ed.). Ethical Issues of Information Systems. Idea Group Inc (IGI). p. 282. ISBN   1931777276 . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  7. Jones v Toben [2000] HREOCA 39 (5 October 2000), Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia).
  8. EFA Letter to HREOC, Oct 1998
  9. Walsh, Gabrielle (1 April 2006). "Labor's mandatory filtering pledge" . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  10. Liz Tay (22 June 2010). "Protest: 19,000 Australians petition against Internet filter". itnews. nextmedia. Retrieved 9 September 2016.