Australian Prime Minister Aims for “Clean” Internet

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s newly elected Prime Minister is frustrating experts with his plan for a “clean feed” high-speed internet pipeline for the country.   

During last year’s campaign, Rudd promised to construct, in a joint effort with the private sector, high-speed internet runs to span the entire nation.  He felt it was important to get those who live in lesser-developed, outlying areas of the country “connected” to the rest of the population.  This network, which he is now pushing, would be a “clean feed” to residences and schools, meaning that it would be devoid of pornography and online gambling. 

Here is the problem, though, according to experts.  Because the entire country would be on this “clean feed,” and ISP’s would be required to compare every website people surf to against a “black list,” this high-speed connection would not be so high-speed at all.  In fact, the previous administration did a study on a “clean feed” system in 2005 and determined that it would decrease the speed of internet access anywhere from 18 to 78 percent. 

Internet customers would be able to opt out of the clean feed by contacting their ISP.