Internet filtering is again making the headlines. No one has a problem with restriction on obscene content but when the legitimate content too is held back, that calls for trouble.

A proposal to authorize the filter, blocking child pornography and other abhorrent Internet content in Australia, has been postponed so that the Government gets enough time to review the matter.

The TechWorld has reported some measures that can be possibly undertaken by the Federal Government to improve the lucidity of an Internet filtering method. The article is said to have prompted debates.

In response, one of the readers commented, “How does keeping the blacklist of websites secret have any credibility? There is a list of banned books movies so why are we treating the Internet differently yet, at the same time, talk about treating internet content the same as other physical media?”

Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy said that the review would soon begin in the Country, which will make sure that regulated list of websites is soon blocked. This law, if passed, is sure to make Australia one of the most harsh Internet controllers among the world's democracies.

Child pornography being of utmost importance, this filter also plans to ban sites that show up brutality, rape and other severe violence, as well as comprehensive instructions in crime, drug use or terrorist acts.

The regulatory list that is to be blocked will be maintained by the Internet Watch Foundation, said Conroy. This list would be frequently updated based on public grievances

Conroy remarked that the main purpose was to block sites that were harmful, although he said that such sites were already blocked in Australia but they had no access to the sites overseas.