Administrators’ Guild attacks internet filter

The System Administrators’ Guild has attacked the report used by communications minister Stephen Conroy to prove the Government’s internet filter could work.

But the guild says the report’s claim that the filter could block restricted material with 100% accuracy and no impact on speed is questionable.

“The decision to proceed with internet filtering based on evidence from the trials is incompatible with the Government’s aims for the National Broadband Network (NBN),” said SAGE-AU president Donna Ashelford in a statement.

“While the NBN aims to provide access to users at 100 Mbps, no test result was at speeds faster than 8 Mbps, despite the criteria for testing to be up to 12 Mbps and higher. The likely degradation of higher internet access speeds needs to be adequately tested.”

Ashelford also said the trial showed no impact on speed due to the smaller sample sizes, and that if the sizes were larger than impacts on speed would grow.