Melbourne student cracks Oz Governments 84 million dollar porn filter

A Melbourne schoolboy has cracked the Australian Governments new 84 million dollar internet porn filter.

Sydney, Aug.25 : A Melbourne schoolboy has cracked the Australian Government's new 84 million dollar internet porn filter.

Tom Wood, 16, and a Class Ten student at a southeast private school in Melbourne, claimed that it took him just about 40 minutes to bypass the Government's filter, which was released on Tuesday.

He showed the Herald Sun how to deactivate the filter through a handful of clicks. His technique ensures the software's toolbar icon is not deleted, leaving parents under the impression the filter is still working.

A former cyber bullying victim, Tom feared a computer-savvy child could work out the bypass and put it on the Internet for others to use.

Tom, who spoke to Communications Minister Helen Coonan about cyber safety during a forum in May, said the Australian Government should have developed a better filter.

"It's a horrible waste of money. They could get a much better filter for a few million dollars made here rather than paying overseas companies for an ineffective one," news.com.au quoted Tom, as saying.

Senator Coonan said the Government had anticipated children would try and find ways to get around the NetAlert filters, and suppliers were contracted to provide continuing updates.

"The vendor is investigating the matter as a priority," Senator Coonan said.

Family First Senator Steve Fielding, a long-time campaigner for cyber safety, said cracking the software showed the need for compulsory filtering by Internet providers.

The 189 million dollars NetAlert scheme includes 84.4 million dollars for the National Filter Scheme, plus funding for online policing, a help line, and education programs.

The Government will also offer the option of filtering by Internet service providers.

ANI

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