Hmmm. Maybe Australia is getting a bit too close to China and their bad habits are rubbing off. Either that or there's a gas leak in Canberra and people aren't thinking clearly. Possibly there are good intentions here but it's going to be a waste of time and money. Besides, it's not what democracies do.
Australia plans to introduce an Internet filtering system to block obscene and crime-linked Web sites despite concerns it will curtail freedoms and won't completely work.
Adopting a mandatory screening system would make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among the world's democracies. Authoritarian regimes commonly impose controls. China drew international criticism earlier this year with plans to install filtering software on all PCs sold in the country.
