As the Federal Election draws near, the future of Australian politics is gaining a strong tinge of Green. Recent Newspoll results have reported the Green’s primary vote jumping to 16 per cent.

It’s arguably true to say mandatory ISP filtering is an unpopular measure among many Australians. Protest coalitions have risen against it and even child protection groups have joined with librarians to condemn it as a step too far down the censorship road.

Australian Greens communications spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam, is set to join hundreds in Perth to call for a stop to mandatory ISP filter plans.

Implementation of the Federal Government’s ISP-level filtering could spark worldwide adoption of Internet content filtering, according to IDC head telecommunications analyst, David Cannon.

A leading tech expert has warned that small Internet service providers (ISPs) could face huge expenses in purchasing and maintaining a mandatory filter, as proposed by the Federal Government.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) and UNSW are assembling e-security and ISP filtering experts to examine the merits of the government’s proposed Internet content filtering scheme.

The Greens party helps hold the balance of power in the Senate and WA Senator, Scott Ludlam, is its technology spokesperson. ARN spoke to Senator Ludlam about his opposition to ISP filtering, his support for a speedy Telstra separation and his ‘pass’ mark for Minister Conroy.

Over the Christmas holiday period, Australian ISPs are being invited to participate in a live trial of the Rudd government’s clean feed Internet scheme. As part of its $125.8 million cyber safety plan, the Federal government will impose mandatory ISP-level Internet content filtering nationwide.