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Interpol list not censorship: IIA – ZDNet Australia

By Renai LeMay, ZDNet.com.au on June 28th, 2011

Australia’s peak internet industry body, Internet Industry Association, has stated that its fledgling child pornography filtering scheme was not a form of censorship but was more akin to internet service providers (ISPs) cooperating with law enforcement authorities, and should not be compared with the Federal Government’s mandatory filtering policy.

The scheme — first outlined in detail yesterday — is expected to see most of Australia’s major ISPs voluntarily block a list of sites containing child pornography compiled by international policing agency, Interpol, with the assistance of the Australian Federal Police. The legal instrument for the scheme to go ahead is section 313 of Australia’s Telecommunications Act, which allows law enforcement to make reasonable requests for assistance from ISPs.

The framework has already been agreed to by Telstra and Optus, and most of Australia’s other major ISPs are expected to fall in line and implement the Interpol blacklist over the next year.

In an interview yesterday, Internet Industry Association (IIA) chief executive Peter Coroneos, who retires from his role this week, denied the Interpol filter would see a form of censorship reach Australia’s internet sector. ‘This is not censorship; this is law enforcement cooperation around material which is illegal to possess,’ he said. ‘We’ve been at pains to try and distance this initiative from the government’s mandatory filtering scheme.’

Coroneos highlighted a number of key differences between the IIA’s policy and Labor’s filter policy. For starters, he said, no new technology would need to be implemented in ISPs’ networks to block the Interpol list, although both policies would see a ‘block page’ displayed when a user tried to access a banned site. Instead, ISPs’ network routing tables would block access to the sites directly, with a list of the banned sites to be provided by Interpol through the AFP to the ISPs.

Optus yesterday confirmed that its DNS servers would be modified to block the Interpol list of sites. The block would also apply to the telco’s wholesale customers if they are using Optus’ DNS servers.

Secondly, the Interpol list would contain a much more limited set of sites to be blocked than the Federal Government’s scheme would affect. The Interpol list only contains several hundred sites, representing the agency’s ‘worst of’ list of sites containing media depicting children younger than 13 years in ’sexually exploitative’ situations. The images must also be of real people — sites that contain computer-generated or other created images are not included.

The Federal Government’s list is believed to contain several thousand sites in a range of categories of material that have been refused classification — not just child pornography, for example, but pro-rape sites, bestiality and sites that promote crime.

Coroneos said child pornography stood apart from other categories of content in that it was ‘almost universally illegal’ and ‘beyond a question of taste and culture’. In his discussions with civil libertarians, he said child pornography had always been discussed as a separate category.

In addition, the executive said it was important that Interpol provided the blacklist, as it was only by having an international law enforcement agency administer such a list that ‘we can finally get over the idea that it’s only the Australian Government telling people what they can and can’t see’.

The executive pointed out that the Interpol list had been in use in other jurisdictions — in Europe, for example — for the best part of a decade. The Federal Government’s filter policy would see its own much larger list administered by a civil authority — the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) — instead of a law enforcement agency like Interpol.

There are also other important differences between the way the two blacklists are compiled and administered.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last year announced a series of transparency and accountability measures that would be added to the government’s filter policy, such as an annual review of the ACMA’s blacklist by an independent expert, clear avenues of appeal for classification decisions, and policies around how material would be added to the list. At the time, Conroy acknowledged that some sections of the community had expressed concern about whether the range of material currently included in the Refused Classification category correctly reflected current community standards.

In comparison, the administration of the Interpol list appears to be less transparent for civilians. If a site owner believes their site has been wrongfully classified on the Interpol list, they must contact Interpol directly through its website, or alternatively the Australian Federal Police, to seek a review.

The much larger blacklist administered by the ACMA is believed to have suffered false positives, with the websites of a Queensland dentist, a school tuckshop and a boarding kennel organisation for animals being listed in what appeared to be a leak of the list in 2009.

Coroneos was not able to say what legal instrument Australians would be able to use to appeal such decisions, although he noted that similar cases involving law enforcement under the Telecommunications Act, such as wrongful interception of telephone calls, could be handled under that existing legislation. There had been ‘no evidence’ over the previous seven years that the list had been operational of sites being wrongfully included on it, he said.

For a site to get on the list, it must be reviewed manually by at least two independent law enforcement agencies. While Coroneos said there was only ‘an infinitesimal risk’ that a site could be misclassified, he noted that if it became evident during the operation of the scheme that sites were being wrongfully blocked, then the IIA would commit to introducing further accountability measures.

The government’s policy has also been criticised in the past on the grounds that it doesn’t address the internet avenues where trading of most illegal material is believed to actually take place — through peer-to-peer file sharing, private forums and even virtual private network connections. Coroneos acknowledged the limitations of the IIA’s policy, but said the IIA’s code was about balance.

‘What we’re trying to do is strike a balance between trying to protect the victims of child abuse, freeing up police time and also having the content removed at the servers, where they’re being hosted internationally,’ he said.

The executive acknowledged the IIA didn’t currently have any evidence that Australians were accidentally browsing to the offensive sites containing child pornography. ‘I don’t have any evidence that it hasn’t occurred, either,’ he said. ‘We don’t position this as the primary reason that we’re doing it.’ The executive highlighted research that shows blocking broad exposure to offensive material was one factor in halting the development of child predators in society.

Asked what measures would be in place to stop the ISPs’ use of the Interpol blacklist from being extended by the government into a much wider filtering system blocking material in the Refused Classification category, Coroneos said such things would be up to the government.

‘There is nothing to stop the government passing any law on any subject matter, other than the parliamentary process itself,’ he said. Under current parliamentary numbers, the government appears unlikely to be able to get the filter policy across the line — with both the Coalition and the Greens having pledged to vote down the associated filter legislation if it was introduced.

‘We’re hopeful that when political parties see the efforts that industry parties are taking to address the most serious types of abuse, that this will remove a lot of the heat from the current political debate,’ said Coroneos.

Most ISPs will filter Interpol list this year: IIA – ZDNet Australia:

By Renai LeMay, ZDNet.com.au on June 27th, 2011

The association representing Australia’s internet industry today claimed that 80 to 90 per cent of Australians would have their internet connections filtered for child pornography this year, following the release of an industry code in July that will focus on a blacklist of sites supplied by international policing agency, Interpol.

‘We anticipate that we will have ISPs [internet service providers] representing between 80 to 90 per cent of the Australian user base complying with the scheme this year,’ said Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos in a statement today announcing the imminent finalisation of the code. Both Telstra and Optus have already signed up to support the effort.

Neither Coroneos nor other spokespeople from the IIA have been available today to clarify which ISPs have signed up so far to block Interpol’s list of sites.

The news follows the revelation on Saturday that Telstra was close to achieving internal executive sign-off for its own proposal to filter child pornography. The news represented the first time that the Interpol blacklist had been named in public as a filter focus for ISPs.

Previously, ISPs Telstra, Optus and Primus had proposed to filter a blacklist of child pornography sites developed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The Interpol list is believed to have been in use for a number of years, with telcos such as BT, O2 and Virgin blocking access to URLs for some time. It is believed to be a more limited list, with tighter restrictions on how sites are listed, than the ACMA blacklist.

For a site to get onto the list, it is believed that law enforcement agencies in at least two separate jurisdictions have to validate the entry and must be illegal, not just objectionable. In addition, the age of children depicted through content on the sites must be younger than 13 years of age, or perceived to be less than 13.

Under the IIA’s scheme, ISPs which use the Interpol list to block access to child pornography would be doing so in accordance with what the IIA today dubbed ‘a legal request for assistance’ under Australia’s existing Telecommunications Act (section 313). Because of this, and unlike the wider mandatory filtering scheme, the IIA believes that no new legislation will be required to implement its Interpol-focused framework.

Those who attempt to access blocked sites will be directed to an Interpol page explaining why the site has been blocked, and users will not be tracked or reported under the scheme. Those who believe their site has been blocked unfairly will be able to complain to the Australian Federal Police or Interpol itself and ask for a review.

‘The current role of the ACMA in receiving complaints from Australian users will continue,’ the IIA said.

The IIA believes that a voluntary code focusing on Interpol will bring Australia into line with Scandinavia and Europe on prohibiting access to child pornography. ‘While we fundamentally maintain the internet is predominantly safe and useful, we acknowledge community and law enforcement concerns about access to illegal materials online, particularly child pornography, and so we are taking these practical steps to help make a positive difference,’ Coroneos said this morning.

However, it remains unclear to what extent Australia’s ISPs will actually implement the voluntary code promulgated by the IIA. The nation’s largest ISPs Telstra and Optus have already committed to filtering their traffic for child pornography, and both are now on board with the IIA’s policy.
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‘Optus can confirm that it will honour its commitment to block child sexual abuse material on the web,’ said Optus general manager of regulatory compliance Gary Smith in a statement this afternoon. ‘Optus will work with the AFP to implement the Interpol ‘Worst of’ list — an approach which blocks the worst of the worst child sexual abuse material.’

‘This is a safe, credible and tested approach which has been implemented in other countries with proven results. Optus will work with the IIA and other ISPs to develop a code based on the framework released today by the IIA.’

However, when asked about the issue, this morning both iiNet and Internode reiterated that they would comply with the law when it came to filtering content for their user base. ‘As always, Internode’s position is that it will continue to do what it is lawfully obliged to do,’ the ISP said.

‘Throughout the filtering debate, iiNet has maintained it would always cooperate with law enforcement agencies,’ iiNet said.

It is not clear yet whether iiNet and Internode will support the IIA model.

Primus, which had initially signed on to support the voluntary filter in mid-2010, has indicated that it is still considering whether to go ahead with the proposal. Other major ISPs such as TPG have not yet responded to a request for comment.

Internet industry moves on blocking child pornography:

Australian Internet industry moves on blocking child pornography
Monday, 27 June 2011

The Internet Industry Association today announced the framework that would underpin its imminent code relating to child abuse materials.

The voluntary industry code of practice for ISPs in Australia would entail blocking child pornography sites which would otherwise be available to Australians. It would rely on a blocklist compiled and supplied by Interpol, in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police (‘AFP’).

Consistent with industry commitments made almost 12 months ago to develop a voluntary industry program to block child abuse materials, the IIA announced the final elements of the scheme were moving into place in preparation for a launch of the code in July.

IIA member ISPs in Australia have confirmed their intentions to support a code based approach.

‘We anticipate that we will have ISPs representing between 80-90% of the Australian user base complying with the scheme this year,’ said IIA’s chief executive Peter Coroneos.

Elements of the scheme

The scheme will be limited to child abuse sites supplied by Interpol
Interpol sets out the criteria for list inclusion as follows:
The children are real. Sites containing only computer generated, morphed, drawn or pseudo images are not included.
The ages of the children depicted in sexually exploitative situations are (or appear to be) younger than 13 years.
The abuses are considered by Interpol to be severe constituting the ‘worst of the worst’ activities involving children.
ISPs who block access to sites would be doing so in accordance with a legal request for assistance under Australia’s existing Telecommunications Act (section 313); no new laws will be required to implement this scheme
Browsers which have attempted to access blocked sites will be directed to an Interpol page explaining why the site has been blocked;
Because of the possibility of accidental access to blocked sites, users will not be tracked or reported under the scheme.

Accuracy and accountability
The list of sites is compiled on the basis of manual checks by police whose experience shows that child sexual abuse material is normally not co-hosted with legal material; it usually resides on specific domains created for the sole purpose of distributing the files. The domains have been reviewed and found to fulfill the above criteria by at least two independent agencies. Users who believe a page is incorrectly blocked can refer the request to AFP/Interpol for review. The current role of the ACMA in receiving complaints from Australian users will continue.

Expected outcomes from the scheme
Both industry and law enforcement agencies recognise that these measures will not stop all child abuse material distribution, but will still achieve a number of significant outcomes, including:

limiting ‘revictimisation’ of children whose images of abuse have been circulated online
freeing police resources for victim and criminal identification and deleting the material from the hosting service, rather than handling reports about the content itself
preventing accidental and unwanted exposure to child abuse materials, the possession of which is a criminal offence in most jurisdictions including Australia
making deliberate access to illegal web based material more difficult
bringing Australian into line with best practice internationally.

‘While we fundamentally maintain the internet is predominantly safe and useful, we acknowledge community and law enforcement concerns about access to illegal materials online, particularly child pornography and so we are taking these practical steps to help make a positive difference’

‘We have considered the alternatives and have come to the view that a voluntary industry code by which ISPs agree to block child pornography sites once notified by the police is the best way forward.’

‘This move will bring Australia into alignment with Scandinavia and Europe.’

‘Our initiative will complement other work that individual companies and the IIA have developed to ensure the internet remains a safe and rewarding experience for all Australians.’

iTWire – IIA blacklist just “security theatre”, says EFA

By Renai LeMay
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 15:40

Digital rights lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia has panned the efficacy of the Internet Industry Association’s planned industry-wide child pornography filter, describing it as ’security theatre’ that wouldn’t actually make much difference to the ability of police to enforce the law.

AFP readies list for ISPs to block child porn links | The Australian

Andrew Colley
From: Australian IT
June 28, 2011 10:32AM

THE Australian Federal Police has started preparing its first ISP censorship notices under a voluntary internet filtering scheme targeting online child abuse material.

The voluntary filter program appeared to be in trouble late last week as Telstra wavered on the commitment it gave the federal government to support the scheme last July.

However, yesterday the carrier confirmed it would commit to a scheme to block a narrowly focused list of material maintained by Interpol and vetted by the AFP.

Optus also confirmed that it would comply with the scheme based on the Interpol list but that it would not start blocking sites until late July.

The Internet Industry Association (IIA) also revealed a framework for an industry-wide scheme based on the Interpol list.

IIA chief Peter Coroneos said that the scheme would draw for the first time on provisions of the Telecommunications Act that, to date, have only been used for investigating terrorism and major crimes.

The AFP was preparing to notify ISPs of the list of sites containing child abuse material they would be asked to block under the voluntary scheme, Grant Edwards, investigations manager at the AFP’s High Tech Crime Operations said.

‘The AFP is in the process of issuing a number of ISPs under section 313 of Telecommunications Act 1997,’ Mr Edwards said in a statement yesterday.

Optus said it would honour its commitment to block the list.

‘This is a safe, credible and tested approach which has been implemented in other countries with proven results,’ a spokesman for Optus said.

‘The internet is now a primary channel for sharing child sexual abuse material and Telstra believes the telecommunications industry has a responsibility to do what it can to limit this distribution,’ a Telstra spokeswoman said.

However, ISPs including iiNet, Internode and Primus Telecom remained reticent about committing to the scheme.

iiNet regulatory chief Steve Dalby declined to comment on the scheme. Internode regulatory chief John Lindsay also declined to comment. Ravi Bhatia, chief of Primus Telecom, one of the original ISPs to enter discussions with government on the scheme, said he ‘more important things to think about.’

Privately some ISPs that have yet to register their support for the scheme said they still feared that the scope of the filter may widen.

Civil liberties groups said they were supportive of the government’s stance on blocking child pornography but feared an internet filtering scheme to be adopted by Australia’s two major carrier’s next month targeting child pornography will sweep online child sexual abuse problems under the rug.

Civil Liberties Australia director Tim Vines said he was concerned that the agencies directly enforcing child abuse laws would be ignored.

‘The production of this material and the abuse of children is ultimately a behavioural issue will not be addressed censorship. If the government is serious about cracking down on child pornography it needs to be diverting additional resources to police,’ Mr Vines said.

Bernadette McMenamin, chief executive of child protection advocacy Child Wise, said that the filter’s imperfections were not reason enough to criticise the scheme. ‘Ordinary Australians’ were not among the elite hackers that would be able to circumvent the filter she said.

‘You’ll always have savvy people who will get around filters. We’re never going to stop child pornography completely but we can reduce it,’ Ms McMenamin said.

Budget 2011: Filter grants cancelled due to lack of interest

10 May, 2011

The Federal Government tonight announced that it would not proceed with a funding program which has seen Australian internet service providers provided with grants to offer internet filtering options to customers; citing a lack of interest in the project.

The initiative – dubbed the Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program – was established in last year’s budget as part of Labor’s over-arching internet filtering policy, which is also seeing the Government push ahead with plans to mandatorily filter Australia’s internet at the ISP level. However, in budget papers released tonight, the Government revealed the project had proven less than popular – with just $200,000 of available funds of $9.8 million being used in the past 12 months.

‘The Government provided $9.8 million in the 2010‑11 Budget to establish the Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program to assist internet service providers (ISPs) to offer customers internet filtering options on a commercial basis,’ the papers state.

‘However, consultation with industry has identified limited interest in the grants due to the increasing range of filtering technologies readily available to online users, including browser and search engine filters, and the decision of the three largest ISPs, which account for over 70 per cent of Australian internet users, to voluntarily filter child abuse sites using a list compiled and maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.’

Several ISPs have offered voluntarily filter broadband connections for some time to Australians, as well as access to internet filtering software which can be installed on users’ PCs. It is not clear to what extent the PC software has been taken up, but the ISP-based offering is known to have seen poor adoption.

Facing strong opposition from the Coalition, the Greens and the general public, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last year postponed the wider internet filter legislation while a review of the Refused Classification category of content (which the filter is intended to block) was carried out by the Minister for Home Affairs for the consideration of federal and state Attorneys-General.

In October, an official from Conroy’s Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy acknowledged the department was not actively working on the filter project at that time, pending the review, although it was working with the three major ISPs – Telstra, Optus and Primus, which have agreed to voluntarily implement more a limited filter to block child pornography from reachng their consumers, rather than the full Refused Classification category of content.

That more limited voluntary filtering scheme involving Telstra, Optus and Primus, however, is due to kick off in the middle of this year. It is not clear what stage the there ISPs are at with respect to implementing the filtering technology.

New Aussie Budget Cuts Kill Voluntary Net Filtering Plan: “

The 2011-2012 Australian federal budget ends grants for the Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program to save $9.6 million over three years. Labor Party still plans to move forward with mandatory ISP-level Internet filtering.

The Australian govt has decided to scrap its Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program in the 2011 federal budget.’The Government will not proceed with the Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program,’ reads the budget. ‘This will provide savings of $9.6 million over three years.’The plan was intended to help give ISPs give consumers an additional filtering option for content that wasn’t Refused Classification (RC), but that they still objected to.The govt said, however that there was ‘limited interest’ among ISPs in the grants, and that consumers had a number of filtering options at their disposal.’The Government provided $9.8 million in the 2010‑11 Budget to establish the Voluntary Internet Filtering Grants Program to assist internet service providers (ISPs) to offer customers internet filtering options on a commercial basis,’ continues the budget text. ‘However, consultation with industry has identified limited interest in the grants due to the increasing range of filtering technologies readily available to online users, including browser and search engine filters, and the decision of the three largest ISPs, which account for over 70 per cent of Australian internet users, to voluntarily filter child abuse sites using a list compiled and maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.’The problem for Aussies (pronounced ‘Auzzies’ by the way), is that the govt still plans to push forward with an involuntary, i.e. mandatory, filtering scheme that’s been in the works since 2007.Stay tuned. news tip? jared@zeropaid.com“

(Via ZeroPaid.com.)

Oz net filter jams up with smut, may be pulled out altogether: “

Online rules may be scrapped

A former Australian regulator recently speculated that there may be changes in the works for Australia’s smut regulation, suggesting that self-regulation may eventually follow. This is ahead of a review of the classification system that is being conducted by the Australian Law Review Commission (ALRC).…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Media Release: Global investigation cracks child exploitation network – Australian Federal Police: “Media Release: Global investigation cracks child exploitation network

Release Date: August 27, 2010

International law enforcement agencies have combined to dismantle an alleged organised child exploitation network that had been operating via the social networking site Facebook.

A total of eleven people have been arrested as part of a coordinated operation across Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Law enforcement has made six arrests in relation to child abuse image offences in the United Kingdom, including the alleged head of the network. Three arrests have been made in Australia and two in Canada. Investigations are ongoing with the operation currently spanning four continents.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) began the investigation in March this year and has operated in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in the United Kingdom and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The investigation began when a covert AFP Internet Policing Team member established an online identity on Facebook and was approached by one of the network members. Upon further investigation into the network, referrals were made to overseas counterparts leading to the arrests across the globe.

AFP National Manager High Tech Crime Operations Neil Gaughan heralded the successful operation as a clear demonstration of co-operation between international law enforcement agencies.

‘Criminal activity of this type is often described as a borderless crime because there’s no geographical restriction on where offenders may try to target their victims,’ Assistant Commissioner Gaughan said.

‘Policing in this social networking environment is a challenge, but the cooperation during this operation demonstrates that international law enforcement is united in a global fight against online child exploitation material.

‘The investigation should serve as a warning to both social networking providers and users.

‘In this case, Facebook deactivated the online accounts of the initial suspects but there were indications that, within hours, the groups were reforming again under new accounts.

‘It is important that content service providers including Facebook constantly scan for child exploitation material, and then inform law enforcement of their findings.’

CEOP Chief Executive Jim Gamble said, ‘This network was made up of people who share an interest in viewing extremely disturbing images of children suffering horrific abuse.’

‘All the officers working on this investigation – both in the UK and in Australia, America, Canada and elsewhere – shared a steely determination to safeguard children wherever they were and to bring those involved to justice,’ Mr Gamble said.

‘Offenders are not limited by their geography and neither are we. We have worked side by side with the Australian Federal Police, the FBI, the RCMP and colleagues in a number of other countries to ensure that no stone is left unturned and no child is left unprotected.

‘Project Ocean should send a clear message to others who think that online environments offer them anonymity in their offending. Everything you do leaves a digital footprint and, working together, we will stop at nothing to protect children suffering abuse.’

FBI Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow, Cyber Division, said: ‘The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous offense, and the FBI is committed to identifying and thwarting online predators, no matter where they live.’

‘We work side-by-side with our law enforcement partners around the world to identify and pursue those who produce, possess and distribute sexually explicit images and videos of children.’

RCMP Superintendent John Bilinski, Officer in Charge of the Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children said: ‘The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre is committed to working with its international policing partners. Project Ocean is a clear demonstration of how international co-operation can help ensure that child sexual offenders are brought to justice.’

‘One of our most effective strategies against Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse is cooperation. No single agency can deal with this crime in isolation. We continually work together with our partners to ensure the safety and security of children, regardless of where they live.’

Media enquiries
AFP National Media Team +61 (2) 6131 6333
CEOP Media +44 (0) 870 000 3434
RCMP Media +1 613 993-2999
FBI Media +1 202-324-3691

FACTS & STATS

Background:

The operation began in March 2010 when an AFP Internet Policing Team member established a covert online identity in Facebook.

The profile was approached by numerous Facebook users to become ‘friends’ and commenced engagement with these friends.

The engagement identified the network exchanging child exploiting material using Facebook to host the images. Members of the network were identified and referrals were made to the countries they were identified to live in.

Australia

* On 2 June 2010, a 33-year-old Victorian man was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); two counts of using a carriage service to make available child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(iv), of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); and possessing child pornography, contrary to section 70(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). The man will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on 6 October 2010.
* On 2 June 2010, a 18-year-old Victorian man was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code Act 1995; two counts of using a carriage service to make available child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(iv) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) and possessing child pornography, contrary to section 70(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). The man will appear in Geelong Magistrates Court on 24 September 2010.
* On 15 June 2010, a 27-year-old New South Wales man was charged with using a carriage service to transmit child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19 (1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code Act 1995. The man will appear in Wollongong Local Court on 14 October 2010.

United Kingdom

The CEOP have arrested and charged six males in the United Kingdom, one of which is the alleged head of the network.

* The 45-year-old Worthing man has been sentenced to four years in prison and served with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, after pleading guilty overnight at Chichester Crown Court to making (six counts); possessing (one count); distributing (seven counts) and view to distributing (10 counts) child abuse images. He was also found guilty of breaching his requirements on the Sex Offenders Register. The man was arrested by Sussex Police who initiated a specific investigation to gather evidence of his offences. Further police activity lead detectives to identify five additional suspects in the UK and a further nine suspects overseas, with investigations still underway.
* Two UK children have been safeguarded and five further suspected offenders have been arrested in the UK.

Canada

Law enforcement agencies have arrested two males in Canada. One suspect has been charged with four counts relating to child exploitation in Canada.
Regarding the second man, the investigation is still ongoing.”

(Via .)

Secret forum reveals Oz firewall backroom dealing: “

Circumvention legal, but you can’t tell anyone how

Australia’s plans for a firewall to protect its population from smut on the internet are rapidly evolving from farce to total chaos. Weekly revelations on bulletin boards suggest that Stephen Conroy, the man behind the big idea, does not know what forthcoming legislation on the topic will say, when it will be introduced or how the firewall will work in practice.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)