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Times: December 14, 2009, Detica dismisses internet spying concerns
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6956587.ece
DPI is a necessary networking requirement for any network operator; however, it cannot keep pace with the speeds of the Telco networks and provide the desired inspection and subsequent restriction of “bad” packets, whatever you define “bad” as.
Avoidance techniques are very easy.
Frankly I don’t see the need to file share, illegal or otherwise – I have my own CD collection ripped in a lossless format for distribution around my house across a gigabit network and wirelessly – why do I need to acquire other people’s music or movies – I don’t!
And finally, “Mr Klein said that Detica’s experience in tracking online child pornography”
– the term “child pornography” is inappropriate – it should be “child abuse images”, which accurately classifies the image as abuse, rather than the connotation associated with “pornography”, which is psychologically less abhorrent.
The [government’s] idea of certification for the web is broadly impractical and unenforceable, but the intent is well meant, however it should not be taken in isolation. This kind of rating idea has been touted before and I discussed it with surfers whilst I was on the user focus group and steering committee at Ask Jeeves back in 2000.
I agree that encouraging wiser parental control should be at the core of any proposition to help curb the influence of the nastier side of life that the Internet offers a window into.
One way would to offer “monitoring” rather than blocking, as monitoring has been shown to encourage responsible usage and foster a greater trust and understanding, rather than prohibition, which alienates and in some ways divorces the guardian (parent, teacher, elder sibling, etc.) from their duty of care (read: “oh the computer will stop anything really nasty”). I experienced this when architecting such solutions (at Chronicle Solutions) for corporate organisations.
I would rather see guardian’s draw-up AUPs with those they are responsible for and then monitor their usage against that, discuss and revise, than see the government impose an arbitrary rating system that gives artificial comfort of control.
