In order to help raise awareness of the proposed Internet filter the Australian government is set to implement, and the fact that we don’t want it, BlurayAustralia.com have joined the fight with internetblackout.com.au by turning our website black for the duration of the protest (January 25-29) . Users can remove the darkened site with a simple click.

About the filter

The Federal Government’s proposed internet filter would force internet service providers to block access to a website blacklist created by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The mandatory filter would ban any website deemed to feature Refused Classification (RC) content and would result in ACMA investigating and classifying sites based on public complaints.

Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy claims the mandatory filter will reduce “the risk of Australians being inadvertently exposed to RC-rated material when they are online”.

But several internet and technology firms have criticised the proposal, including Google Australia.

The company’s policy head Iarla Flynn says Google is concerned that the “the scope of content to be filtered is too wide” and that “socially and politically controversial material” could be banned from Australian eyes as part of the scheme.

The Great Australian Internet Blackout is being held in collaboration with the Electronic Frontiers Association (EFA), which is behind Australia’s No Clean Feed website.

EFA board member Colin Jacobs says he hopes the protest will educate internet users about the filter that he says could “give parents a false sense of security” and open the door for politically sensitive material, such as euthanasia websites, to be blocked.

Lobby group GetUp! has also run ongoing campaigns against the internet filter, including its Censordyne commercial, which drew media attention. The group’s website encourages people to protest the filter by contacting Sen. Conroy directly.