THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSED INTERNET FILTER HAS BEEN MET WITH OPPOSITION BY MANY PEOPLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR BUSINESS AND IT?
“In theory ‘the Great Australian Firewall’ shouldn’t have any real impact on most legitimate businesses,” commented Kareem Tawansi, CEO of custom software development vendor, Solentive Software.
“However, the concept of censorship goes against the spirit of openness and opportunity that most entrepreneurs believe the Internet provides,” Kareem continued, “The biggest issue, is who controls what is blocked? It might start with child pornography and terrorist style instructions, but what will the boundaries be?”
“For example, new technologies may emerge that are not yet understood by those who police the firewall; what will they do if they don’t understand?”
Indeed, many businesses are concerned with how the filter will be maintained and managed.
“In summary,” Kareem concluded, “it is unlikely that the firewall will have much impact on business and IT initially but who knows what the future holds. Where it may not adversely affect business, it definitely provides no benefits.”