[plug] filter-bypass

[Christian]

David Bastow wrote:

> Server-Side: Replace necessary words with a numeric code (presumably the
> number 69 is banned though?) - perhaps even the hexadecimal character
> equivalent of you origional.
> 
> Client-Side: Small Java app, converts the text page back into its
> origional form, the filter is blind to what is actually being transmitted.
> 
> Any webmaster worth their weight in scripting tools could whip up one of
> those faster than altavista can find porn!

Who writes the script?  Are you proposing that every web site in the
world installs such a script for the sake of the small percentage of
visitors who are Australian?  If so, then every single single browser
would need to install your Java applet (apart from the fact, as
discussed on this list recently, that there are several browsers which
do not support Java).  Only applying the script to Australian visitors
is problematic for obvious reasons - assuming you get the cooperation of
all these web sites anyway.  This doesn't even touch upon other issues
like the additional load from running this script for every object
served.

Have I totally missed the point of your suggestion or is it as
impossible as it seems?

Using an off-shore proxy listening on a port other than 80 would be one
possibly workable option - I'm sure people can suggest plenty of others.

> Have they really thought this through?

I think so:
1. People who use the Internet are a minority.
2. People who understand the Internet are even fewer.
3. Misconceptions about the Internet dominate the general public's view
of it.
4. It *looks* like they're doing something good: preventing children
from accessing harmful material.
5. Most people like the idea of this so this is good publicity for them.

Overall, a good, safe, political move.  By the time it really backfires
and people realise how pathetically stupid the whole idea was, the
politicians who made this decision will no longer be there.  They've
definitely thought this through.

Regards,

Christian.

-- 
========================================================================
I'm not trying to give users what they want, I'm trying to give them
freedom, which they can then accept or reject. If people don't want
freedom, they may be out of luck with me, but I won't allow them to 
define for me what is right, what is worth spending my life for.
                                                    - Richard Stallman