Hot on the heels of watching Australia discover that an internet filter is ridiculous and would never work, New Zealand thinks it’s a great idea and has begun implementing their own filter.

Remember, it’s not about child porn like they claim.  It’s about blocking whomever and whatever they like.

Then there’s ‘drift’. I know this is a dubious ‘slippery slope’ argument, but if you look at the legislation that governs censorship in New Zealand, nowhere is child pornography separated from other objectionable material. Customs already acts in cases of possession of bestiality material – why not filter for that as well? It’s clearly objectionable. And if you’re doing that, then why not the worst, most violent pornography as well, the kind covered by Britain’s extreme pornography law? In fact, why not everything already defined as objectionable?

All ‘objectionable’ material is banned. In deciding whether a publication is ‘objectionable’, or should instead be given an ‘unrestricted’ or ‘restricted’ classification, consideration is given to the extent, degree and manner in which the publication describes, depicts, or deals with:

• acts of torture, the infliction of serious physical harm or acts of significant cruelty

• sexual violence or sexual coercion, or violence or coercion in association with sexual conduct

• sexual or physical conduct of a degrading or dehumanising or demeaning nature

• sexual conduct with or by children, or young persons, or both

• physical conduct in which sexual satisfaction is derived from inflicting or suffering cruelty or pain

• exploits the nudity of children, young persons, or both

• degrades or dehumanises or demeans any person

• promotes or encourages criminal acts or acts of terrorism

• represents that members of any particular class of the public are inherently inferior to other members of the public by reason of any characteristic of members of that class being a characteristic that is a prohibited ground of discrimination specified in the Human Rights Act 1993.

Again, this law is far too broad and can easily be manipulated.  Then again, the filtering technology can’t even be used on IPv6 or over https.  It also can’t be used on Tor, FREENET, and WASTE.  So, tell me again, who are they really going after here?