Porn filters, Digital Right Management built into software and hardware, copy protection on CD's and DVD's...

ALL having ludicrous amounts of money spent on them in hopes to make them effective...

ALL cracked and bypassed within 2 weeks of being released to the public.

*try harder... try again*

BWAHAHAHA!
$84 million???
Coonan/Howard are the worst example of out of touch liars and embarrassing political buffons.
They were told it would not work! Why oh why do they think they know better than I.T. professionals? Why is Australia run by this bunch of rabble?

Should have put most of the payments involved into escrow: if the filter works, the escrow is released in a number of years. A significantly higher amount would maintain interest in this. Mind you, this is still a replacement for parents actually taking responsibility. Wouldn't want that.

"Yes Minister but 30 minutes for a teenager to crack a 84 million dollar filter is simply ridiculous."

Yes, not to mention the fact that it gives parents false sense of security. No doubt will there be parents who rely on this filter instead of teaching and supervising their kids, only to find out later that the filter no longer works even though the icon is still there.

Protection by restriction is ludicrous. It only heightens the sense of intrigue around taboos against p0rn, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Any 8th-grader will confirm that, if you have established open credible communication with them. Why do you think its the Catholic girls with hypocritical parents who end up drunk and pregnant at age 16. Spend your money informing children about the nature of your society, philosophy, health/biology and the social systems for which education is supposed to prepare them, and they will respond to the best of their ability. No youth sets out to fail, but they will stop listening to incredible sources. Jingoism, propaganda and sugar-coated syllogisms do more damage young minds than most pornography ever could.

Here's an idea. Save your tax dollars and stop trying to legislate morality. It doesn't work. Passing unenforcable laws doesn't stop people from doing what they are going to do any way. Ask the US if they have been able to stop online gambeling.

Héhé, It's allways the same with goverment. Bien fait !

Histoire très amusante en effet (sorry I'm lazy to write in english).

+1 pour Tom

oh what an epic FAIL. nice one helen u carnie.

why not simply add whitelist DNS servers to ISP's?

What do you expect? They're politicians.
They think that technology is this magic box that will automagically give them whatever they want.

give up already governments!

stop trying to control the uncontrollable. people always have the power. everyone will always demand their rights, and we will not let any form of rule take them away from us. good job kid, bravo! just take it easy with the porn.

Bureaucrat is a code word that means Arsehole.

Just think of how much worse it could be if Krudd tries to run the place.

Because people keep voting for them... and the alternative is just as clueless about IT.

We're talking about people who don't even read their own email here, let alone answer it.

no filter system will work. kids could just https/secure layer bounce there http traffic and non of the data would be filtered. That is just one type of work around, there are piles more I can think of. The government is just trying to keep/win votes. Clearly they are wasting money here on a loosing battle!

"Why is Australia run by this bunch of rabble?"
...because people like you vote in the mistaken belief that you can make a difference.
I have watched this government make costly mistakes with IT policy, from the wholesale whoring of infrastructure to acquisition based on a politician's understanding of a vendor's PR. The politicians are incapable of understanding the most common issues with their decisions, and like many of our parents generation, they refuse to take advice from those that have less "life experience" than themselves. They know better than us, and be damned if they'll ever accept or admit that the world changed in a way they can't fully comprehend because of the information age.
I for one don't care. The government can spend my taxes in whatever way they see fit, the morons in this country that want software to relieve the responsibility of parenthood can buy into another "core promise", vote in whom ever "promises" them the most, and we can endure yet another term of lies, deception, nepotism, spin, war, and the sale of anything of worth to foreign interests (did you know that the government of Singapore holds more assets in Australia than the Australian government - now that's economic rationalism at it's finest!).
This country went to shit with the drafting of a constitution that almost exclusively describes the country in only economic terms - your one right as an Australian citizen is being forced to vote for the charlatans that are employed by a populace and then govern only an economy.
Enjoy!

no filter system will work. kids could just https/secure layer bounce there http traffic and non of the data would be filtered. That is just one type of work around, there are piles more I can think of. The government is just trying to keep/win votes. Clearly they are wasting money here on a loosing battle!

They don't think they know better than IT professionals. They are just ignoring them. The political leaders are just appealing to the emotions of the worried parents who want to be able to shirk all responsibility with regard to raising their children.

This is yet another example of politicians doing things for popularity- and emotion-based reasons rather than paying any attention to experts in the field or reasoned argument. See also global warming and the fight against terror and GWB's gut.

The filter itself did not cost $84 million. This is the funding that is designated for this portion of the project (it does not describe how much the filter cost to develop, which would be miniscule in comparison).

The filter is intended to stop vulnerable people (i.e. the very young) from being exposed to this sort of material. If a person is able to circumvent the filter (as was anticipated) then they fall outside of the filters intention.

Tony, I.T professionals were the ones advising the government that it would work. Welcome to the real world where not everyone has the same viewpoint.

Tom Wood is required to pony up with his hack/crack/circumvention or he is just a whole lot of hot air.

Show us the money Tom.

$84 million...

Why would you throw that much money into something. When you know you can get something much much more efficient for oh say... a grand a year from a company that has hardware and software filters.. not saying they can't be cracked, but come on. For 84 million... I believe i would be asking for a refund

$84,000,000/30 minutes?

I guess the government would have better spent thier money educating the children and parents rather than wasting it on some 2nd class software companies with 3rd class programmers.

Just another PORK BARREL bid where the people are ripped off by CEO con men and greedy politicians. Bet the CEO's of the companies that wrote the software are having a party at the peoples expense, laughing all the way to the bank.

This is government at it's best people, enjoy it.

W...

The cracker looks just like John Connor from T2!

"The filter is intended to stop vulnerable people (i.e. the very young) from being exposed to this sort of material."

Oh, come on! Even before Internet "vulnerable people" was able to obtain porn. It's a matter of education (i.e parents being real parents) to turn "vunlerable people" into "invulnerable" ones.

It's laughable that Aussie are still trying to outlaw anything not proper and Victorian. When they outlawed guns, did it stop gun deaths?

Harley, what a boneheaded attitude to take. 84 Million to develop some crummy software? So if I said I was going to re-invent the wheel, you would give me 84 million out of public funds to do it when you could simply say to people we will give you a tax incentive to get proper firewall protection with a sonicwall or cisco router that has added filter protection on subscription. Good parents would be inclined to do this if it meant safety and if parents were under threat of prosecution if they are negligently failing to protect their kids from the dangers present on the internet. Who do you think owns the IT companies that get the commission? Friends of the politicians - they pay them extortionate money to develop and the company putts aside a few million for the politician - it was just another corrupt scam brought to you by the chief architects of "Scam Australia" AKA the government

They spent $84m on a local-side SOFTWARE filter and are surprised it doesn't work?! LOL!!! Since when have software-based filters ever worked?

If people had a better respect of nudity and didn't foster dirty and puritanical thoughts about nudity and sex, the porn problem wouldn't exist. The sight of a bare breast wouldn't have a degenerative effect upon a person and send them into a sex-obsessed frenzy or subject them to have their minds filled with guilt ridden thoughts of impure ideas. Religion has beat into people's minds that there's something's wrong with their nudity and to be shamed into having anything but chaste thoughts about sex and nudity. Just think why the number of child predators have escalated? Is it something in the water?

what a waste of money

Better to just realize that children are going to view porn, and allow them to view it.
Personally, I viewed porn when I was less than 5 years old when I saw my father's Playboy's. Did it 'damage' me? Hell no, though I am a pedosexual, but then again I was always going to be a pedosexual, I am proud of it and I do not hide it.

The reason that the number of 'child predators' (actually, there is no such thing) has escalated is because more and more people are realizing that children are JUST AS INTERESTED IN SEX and ENJOY SEX JUST AS MUCH as adults, if not more!
Hell, I was 'sexually abused' (a false thing that does not exist) when I was young and I LOVED it! I LIKED making love with teenagers and young adults, as well as some older adults, when I was young (7+). I also wasn't really 'ignorant' before that, because I had been playing sexual games with other children from the time I was 3, if not earlier (my first memory of doing that was at 3 with a 5 year old girl).

It's time to realize that children are JUST AS ABLE or unable to defend themselves as adults from someone who is trying to force them into a sexual interaction that they do not want. If they don't want it, hey, they can tell an adult and that adult will make the other one stop!
We should just LEGALIZE pedophilic sexual relationships, teach children that their bodies are their own and that they have the right to decide who touches them and does not touch them (Also, make them take the consequences if they do not tell an adult to not touch them and for their own lack of protests), start teaching them that adults have no right to order them to do anything, and stop putting pedosexuals in prisons where they just learn to HATE children and adults and become exceptionally dangerous when they get out.

Even my young friends who know that I am a pedosexual have to say "Hey, you are not dangerous, and if you are representative of all pedosexuals...... they are not anywhere near as dangerous as people say they are!"
Children have seen through your religious bullshit and are having sexual relationships with adults all the time, parents. Get used to it and protect them by bringing them out into the light of day, where nothing bad can happen or is extremely unlikely to happen.

I think people are missing the point here.

This is pure electioneering. The message is "the Internet is a nasty, dirty, dangerous place for kids - the Howard government is spending $84 million protecting children from it".

It's the politics of fear - extremely effective with an ill-informed populace. That the result of this massive expenditure is worthless, in fact, dangerous by virtue of the false sense of security it provides, is of little consequence to the government.

Bit like invading Iraq to protect us from terrorism (or was it WMDs?)

For anyone stumbling upon this article
the photo is not actually Tom Wood but actor Edward Furlong from "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/.

Regular readers will of course recognize this.

Assuming you are not joking
@Christopher:
"children are JUST AS ABLE or unable to defend themselves as adults from someone who is trying to force them into a sexual interaction that they do not want"
This is not true. I suggest you read some childpsycology. Children naturally trust adults, it is an abuse of power to convince a child that they should do what you suggest.

" LEGALIZE pedophilic sexual relationships"
no.

"I was 'sexually abused' "
Do you see the correlation between your warped views of sex, power, childhood, and development....and the fact that you were abused?

If you don't, In your own interest, please seek professional help, you are way out of my league. And please don't take that statement anyfarther than it was ment. I mean, I am not trained to help you in the way you so clearly need.

if your not teaching your child i bet its not good subject matter!!!!!!!!!

"It's laughable that Aussie are still trying to outlaw anything not proper and Victorian. When they outlawed guns, did it stop gun deaths?"

We have not 'outlawed guns', but our tighter (in comparison with the US) gun laws have certainly bloody well helped to reduce the incidence of gun-related violence, yes.

Wonderful journalism since this news story is fake and the picture is taken from Terminator 2.

c'mon guys this actual works, let's see. there's alot of kids in australia 1 of em cracked it in 30 mins well maybe a 100 others will crack it too but then we have the rest. if wee look at it that way it's actually kinda effective but congrats to the kid.

Maybe the kid's just brilliant.

Do you really think that cracking a software based URL filter will do much?

Hell, back when I was 13 I was getting my pr0nz off KaZzZa:D

Welcome to the internet, where freedom of speech prevails and restrictions cant really be implemented without somebody screaming (and rightfully so) censorship!...

Take a look at the Great Firewall of China, I'm not going to encouraging the government to create a better filter, it was a bad idea in the first place...

Besides. If a kid is uncared about enough to get the chance to watch porn from the confort of their bedroom; chances are if there was a perfect net filter they'd end up with a drug addiction 10 years down the track, i'm not being negative its a fact: neglected children become neglecting parents, addicts or many other messed up situations (Looking in Christophers twisted direction)

Oh by the way Christopher, I'm not homophobic and socially accepting of every religion, culture or situation out there other than pedophilia and sexually violent crimes, as they impact on the psychology of the victims (or younger partners in your view). I support the death penalty for your kind.

well done, bro