Featured, News - Friday, July 22, 2011 10:20 - 9 Comments

iiNet CEO defends Interpol filter

The chief executive of one of Australia’s largest Internet service providers has broken his company’s relative silence on the voluntary limited filtering initiative being implemented by Telstra and Optus, defending the project and insisting it not be linked with the Federal Government’s much broader mandatory filtering policy.

So far only Australia’s two largest telcos, Telstra and Optus, have pledged to implement the voluntary filter, which consists of a framework developed by the developed by the ISP industry’s peak representative body, the Internet Industry Association. The filter, which is being seen as a more moderate industry approach developed in reaction to the Federal Government’s much more comprehensive filter scheme, will see the ISPs block a “worst of the worst” list of child pornography sites generated by international police agency Interpol.

iiNet has previously stated it would comply with the law with regard to the filter, although it is unclear whether ISPs would need to comply with police requests to filter the list. However, yesterday iiNet chief executive Michael Malone went further, defending the project in comments made online.

A forum poster on broadband site Whirlpool asked Malone why ISPs weren’t informing their users about the implementation of the Interpol filter or publishing press releases about it.
“Explaining what? If the AFP sends us a lawful order, we comply with it. How is that news? We comply with such instruments every day,” Malone replied.

Continue…