11 ms·

Australia outlaws warrant canaries

234 points by r0h1n 12y ago

tempodox 12y ago
the Australian government made the usual argument that metadata needs to be retained for long periods in order to fight terrorism and serious crime—even though the German experience is that, in practice, data retention does not help Which only goes to show that it's not about fighting crime, but supporting it on the highest levels. Civil rights and the rule of law are obstacles to the coming rule of institutionalised crime, so they have to be abolished.
- hahainternet 12y ago
  I'm embarrassed to be on the same site as nonsense like this getting posted honestly.
  - abandonliberty 12y ago
    That's rather closed minded of you. If you don't want to be bothered by differing perspectives, there are plenty of echo chamber outlets for you to choose from so we can further distance and alienate ourselves from each other. Homophobia, racism, politics - everything gets better when we share openly.
- dognotdog 12y ago
  Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
- abandonliberty 12y ago
  Tempodox's phrasing may seem a little out there, but there are plenty of arguments that could be in line with his reasoning. For example, was the Bush administration's lies about the CIA report a crime? [1] I don't think Hanlon's Razor applies here. While calling it institutionalized crime may be inflammatory, valid, (or even distracting), it's quite clear that those in power pass laws to perpetuate their power. This is in line with the iron law of oligarchy. [2] [1]https://news.vice.com/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-document-that-supposedly-justified-the-iraq-invasion https://news.vice.com/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- mattgibson 12y ago
  It looks to me like a transition to 'inverted totalitarianism'/'managed democracy': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism The state is increasingly controlled by the hyper-wealthy individuals and corporations that fund politics, and its policies and propaganda increasingly reflect their interests. Standard totalitarianism, by contrast, is where the corporations are controlled by the state. As to whether it's new, I suspect it's just today's manifestation of the same shit that's always been going on, where the wealthy and powerful oppress the poor using whatever technologies are available. The interesting bit for me is how technology will change people's reaction. It's always been the case that powerful people can manipulate mass media to control the narrative. However, it's only recently that we have developed tools that make it possible for one person (e.g. Snowden) to undo billions of dollars of secrecy by leaking more documents that one could physically carry if they had been printed on paper, then distributing them to millions at zero cost. I think this tips the balance in favour of the citizens. I suspect that we are just seeing more of the efforts to control us exposed in the media than we normally would be aware of. It kind of brings to mind the recent spate of child abuse revelations in the UK. I don't for a moment think that that sort of stuff only started happening a decade or two ago. Far more likely that it has always been present and only now do we have technology and media that makes it near impossible to hide, so it all comes out. I wonder what other technologies will emerge that allow us to surveil the powerful in new ways for the first time in history, whether they like it or not.
  - aetherson 12y ago
    What are the corporations/who are the wealthy people you imagine are driving this? What corporate interests do you think this serves?
  - javajosh 12y ago
    >The state is increasingly controlled by the hyper-wealthy individuals and corporations that fund politics, and its policies and propaganda increasingly reflect their interests. The root problem isn't money in politics, but alienation of voters from the the real business of government, a business people must understand if they are to hire (elect) the right people to run it. Political money just fills the void of that ignorance. That business is fundamentally an allocation game that starts with accumulation from taxes, fines and fees and ends with a set of spending decisions over time. This "spending decision set" represents a much greater degree-of-freedom than the traditional, policy-obsessed "how a bill becomes a law" narrative from school would imply. One key part is the appointment game, where an elected executive leader assigns arbitrary people to run major government departments, who themselves get wide discretion with "operational policy", policies that have the most impact on tax payers and yet get the least attention. So, yeah, let's start focusing on government as a hierarchy of allocation and policy decisions.
blueskin_ 12y ago
Australia seems to be leading the world in oppression in a way even the US has yet to manage.
- coldcode 12y ago
  They actually seem more like wanting to be China South. Control everything online and you control the population.
  - gumby 12y ago
    Australia is basically a mining province of China these days. I don't mean this in some conspiracy theory sense, simply in a practical one: you can see that the exchange rate, GDP growth etc are functions of what happens to the Chinese economy.
- fit2rule 12y ago
  This has been true of Australia for decades. The corporate elite have been using Australia as a proving-ground for their strategies for a long time now, since Australia is one of those western nations where heinous, fascist behaviour, has been permitted for centuries. The colonial/imperial systems used to rule Australian society - and destroy its previous occupants - have been refined and enhanced for application in the modern era, without much hindrance alas.
  - rustynails 12y ago
    Most of your other comments are fair about Audtralia. This one is not. Australia has always been apathetic - "she'll be right" was our catch cry. Until recently (the last 20 years or so), we maintained that casual attitude. Since then, we have culturally become Americanised through TV and movies. With it has come a callousness and a higher level of sophistication and a greater sense of entitlement. I would suggest two points. It's a combination of apathy and self-focus that are driving our indifference to draconian policy. The second point is that the crimes you accuse Australia of are typical throughout the west. While I don't like to see what Australia has become, other western countries are no better. Does anyone remember the blue ribbon campaign about free speech from the 90s? I went into all of the Australian IRC channels before the news hit. I called for my fellow Australians to rise to protect their freedoms. I don't think I've been attacked so viciously by so many people before or since that day.. That was and still remains Australia's apathy. Like you, I feel we are in the minority in Australia. Social consciousness and concern for others rights is not on the landscape.
msandford 12y ago
The article linked in the article about how to dodge these new laws has some particularly asinine advice: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/australian-government-minister-dodge-new-data-retention-law-like-this/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/australian-govern... The guy says "just use skype" because then the telco doesn't know who you're calling, just that you called skype. Sure, because there's NO POSSIBLE WAY for Skype to get a subpoena, right?
- jdub 12y ago
  "The guy" is the Minister for Communications. :-) (He's not directly responsible for the law, as it is in the purview of the Attorney General, but the Minister for Communications is a minister of the government.)
- nl 12y ago
  Sure, because there's NO POSSIBLE WAY for Skype to get a subpoena, right? But that's exactly the point!! Subpoenas and warrants require due process and probable cause (especially in the case of Skype, which is cross borders). The data retention regime - for the most part - removes that and requires nothing more than a (possibly automated) request.
  - msandford 12y ago
    There's an easy fix for that. "We have classified your service (Skype, whatever) as 'telecommunications' and unless you give us this stuff without a warrant we're going to start arresting your folks in-country and work on extraditing your executives" Due process averted.
    - nl 12y ago
      Yeah, except we (Australia) never, ever try to exert any power over a US based company. (Actually, Skype would be under the telecommunications act if they were Australian anyway. See http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/9.%20Overview%3A%20Impact%20of%20Developing%20Technology%20on%20Privacy/voice-over-internet-protocol http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/9.%20Overview%3A%20Impac...)
steven2012 12y ago
What happened in the last few years to allow our civil rights in the most forward thinking countries to unravel so easily? And why do citizens not care? How is it possible that all countries have elected such a group of corrupt, nearsighted politicians to the point where freedom is an inconvenience over them consolidating practically dictatorial power? And again, why does no one care?
- toyg 12y ago
  It's a combination of unprecedented wealth (let's be honest, modern poverty in industrialized countries is nothing like it was back in the '50s) and the continuous rise of asymmetric warfare randomly deployed by psychopaths. In Sydney, the "cafe kidnap" attack is still fresh in everyone's mind. We've had bombs in London and Madrid, plus a number of other scares, and when a population feels threatened, they'll typically hand power to the first dictator with a minimum of skill. As long as we're free to buy porn and videogames, most people just don't care.
  - mhurron 12y ago
    > We've had bombs in London Did they react this way during the Troubles? I don't think they did. I was in London in '92 and there was a bomb threat called in at the tube station one stop over. It delayed the train for a bit, but that was it and everyone continued on like normal. This time the US freaks out because the world came to their doorstep and they flip out because they have no idea how to handle it. The leaders flip out causes the population to freak out and they trun around and grant legal weight to every stupid idea that comes flying out of polititians mouths. It seems the UK learned from this, so when there is a little bomb plot in London, the leaders go full retard, the people get scared and do the same thing. It's like everyone figured out the best way to get more power is to act like you've been caught with your pants down so that you're the one who scared the population, not whatever actually happened. After everyone has finished running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and the dust settles, the government finds itself with all these extra powers.
    - pyre 12y ago
phkahler 12y ago
Does anyone have a nice SVG image of a canary? Or it illegal to put that on a website?
- llamataboot 12y ago
  Not sure why were downvoted here. It does seem that there is some plausible deniability about having a picture on your website that may or may not have anything to do with warrants that could still convey information to those looking for it.
  - macspoofing 12y ago
    Lawyers aren't idiots. Judges aren't idiots. Lawmakers aren't idiots. If a law says you cannot disclose a government request, then trying to get around the injunction by playing games isn't going to do anything for you.
    - phkahler 12y ago
      That depends. Using absurdly simple means to point out the absurdity of someone else can be effective. Remember how PGP was printed in book form to circumvent export controls? Or how about DeCSS on a T-shirt? How about those magic flags that encode an illegal number in the hex codes of the colors? No, I think it's worth asking if it is now illegal to put an image of a canary on a web page in Australia. If the answer is "no" that says a lot.
    - BonsaiDen 12y ago
      Thing is though, this and stuff like "hand over the keys to that encrypted data" are really easy ways of getting just about everyone into prison. I could for example argue that you, by changing the profile picture on your blog, have used a warrant canary too. Do you have any way of proving that you didn't? You certainly can't argue that you don't need one (this would imply you haven't receive a NSL which would be a warrant canary statement in itself), you can still argue that you haven't used your profile picture as one, but then we're back to square one, with them saying "You have!" If the government wants you in prison, they'll find a way.
mnw21cam 12y ago
Cool. So, if I was to publicly announce "I have never been given a warrant demanding I hand over data by the Australian government", then I will have committed a crime attracting a two year prison sentence, and I should never visit the country?
- nmc 12y ago
  Yes. At least, that is how it reads. We will have to see how it gets enforced.
  - pc2g4d 12y ago
    How strong is Australia's right to free speech?
    - a_bonobo 12y ago
      Australia has interesting laws in that case, and they're not very good: >Australia does not have explicit freedom of speech in any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights, with the exception of political speech which is protected from criminal prosecution at common law per Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth. There is however an implied freedom of speech that was recognised in Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation[48] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#A...
jchrisa 12y ago
Someone should make a website where you can check off a list of countries you want to be barred from, and then it sends out an illegal tweet for each country.
VonGuard 12y ago
Australia is officially the only place in the world where the laws and technological restrictions make me never want to go there. Bandwidth is capped, porn is filtered, videogames cost a ridiculous amount. I know the country was founded by criminals, but I didn't realize they still ran the place.
- masmullin 12y ago
  > I know the country was founded by criminals, but I didn't realize they still ran the place. The head of state is still an inherited position
- mercurial 12y ago
  Enjoy your world tour of such havens of freedom as most of the Middle East, North Korea, Cuba... Obviously, the current Australian government is a disaster in many areas, but there are a large number of places which are considerably worse.
  - papaf 12y ago
    Maybe the Australian tourist board could adopt the slogan, "Australia, not as bad as North Korea". Or maybe the Australian people could aim a little higher?
- NeutronBoy 12y ago
  > videogames cost a ridiculous amount Yes, but it's a lot of currency/cost of living differences as well.
dang 12y ago
Url changed from http://boingboing.net/2015/03/26/australia-outlaws-warrant-cana.html http://boingboing.net/2015/03/26/australia-outlaws-warrant-c..., which points to this.
JulianMorrison 12y ago
Can we just all agree that governments, all of 'em, are the damn enemy?
ashmud 12y ago
This also puts Australia on the blacklist for hosting a VPN service, if they were not already, I assume.
- duskwuff 12y ago
  Prohibitive bandwidth costs already made it a very poor location for one.
  - sasas 12y ago
    Torguard has a VPN gateway to Australia.
moyix 12y ago
I'm honestly surprised they had to make a law against it. It has always seemed to me that warrant canaries would not survive their first contact with the judicial system; it's a clear attempt to circumvent the intent of the law through a technical loophole. Judges aren't stupid and they tend to not look very kindly on such legal "hacks". (Related: http://xkcd.com/1494/ http://xkcd.com/1494/)
rsync 12y ago
The warrant canary is not a solution to the problem of secret legal actions. It's merely a protest. As we see the warrant canary idea institutionalized - with companies like Apple and Twitter adopting them to a certain degree, and cataloguing them on sites like canary watch[1] we are falling down a rabbit hole of speech about speech (and speech about speech about speech, etc.). The real issue is NSLs and other secret warrants. These are older than you might think. Look up PRTT (pen register trap and trace, for telephones, which can be served with a gag order) or the All Writs Act. This is what we need to be working against, and this is what falls to the background as we find new and better ways to run our warrant canaries. I am guilty of this.[2] [1] https://canarywatch.org/ https://canarywatch.org/ [2] http://www.rsync.net/resources/notices/canary.txt http://www.rsync.net/resources/notices/canary.txt
- shit_parade 12y ago
  Yes, people and companies need to openly defy unjust laws. NSLs should immediately be published upon receipt and litigated against.
DiaaAttia 12y ago
Hello, I would like to share my experience with http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype for both students and tutors in order to get the most testimony from this wonderful website, I am currently learning German there with native speakers and I must say that the quality presented is excellent and satisfying
DiaaAttia 12y ago
Hello, I would like to share my experience with http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype for both students and tutors in order to get the most testimony from this wonderful website, I am currently learning German there with native speakers and I must say that the quality presented is excellent and satisfying
shit_parade 12y ago
Nothing will change until people stop complying with government demands.
lowbloodsugar 12y ago
I have not been served with a warrant. In so saying, I have just committed a crime? WTF
- Veedrac 12y ago
  This should be meme-ified: #IHaveNotBeenServedWithAWarrant.

234 points by r0h1n 12y ago

the Australian government made the usual argument that metadata needs to be retained for long periods in order to fight terrorism and serious crime—even though the German experience is that, in practice, data retention does not help Which only goes to show that it's not about fighting crime, but supporting it on the highest levels. Civil rights and the rule of law are obstacles to the coming rule of institutionalised crime, so they have to be abolished.

hahainternet 12y ago
I'm embarrassed to be on the same site as nonsense like this getting posted honestly.
- abandonliberty 12y ago
  That's rather closed minded of you. If you don't want to be bothered by differing perspectives, there are plenty of echo chamber outlets for you to choose from so we can further distance and alienate ourselves from each other. Homophobia, racism, politics - everything gets better when we share openly.
dognotdog 12y ago
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
abandonliberty 12y ago
Tempodox's phrasing may seem a little out there, but there are plenty of arguments that could be in line with his reasoning. For example, was the Bush administration's lies about the CIA report a crime? [1] I don't think Hanlon's Razor applies here. While calling it institutionalized crime may be inflammatory, valid, (or even distracting), it's quite clear that those in power pass laws to perpetuate their power. This is in line with the iron law of oligarchy. [2] [1]https://news.vice.com/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-document-that-supposedly-justified-the-iraq-invasion https://news.vice.com/article/the-cia-just-declassified-the-... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

mattgibson 12y ago
It looks to me like a transition to 'inverted totalitarianism'/'managed democracy': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism The state is increasingly controlled by the hyper-wealthy individuals and corporations that fund politics, and its policies and propaganda increasingly reflect their interests. Standard totalitarianism, by contrast, is where the corporations are controlled by the state. As to whether it's new, I suspect it's just today's manifestation of the same shit that's always been going on, where the wealthy and powerful oppress the poor using whatever technologies are available. The interesting bit for me is how technology will change people's reaction. It's always been the case that powerful people can manipulate mass media to control the narrative. However, it's only recently that we have developed tools that make it possible for one person (e.g. Snowden) to undo billions of dollars of secrecy by leaking more documents that one could physically carry if they had been printed on paper, then distributing them to millions at zero cost. I think this tips the balance in favour of the citizens. I suspect that we are just seeing more of the efforts to control us exposed in the media than we normally would be aware of. It kind of brings to mind the recent spate of child abuse revelations in the UK. I don't for a moment think that that sort of stuff only started happening a decade or two ago. Far more likely that it has always been present and only now do we have technology and media that makes it near impossible to hide, so it all comes out. I wonder what other technologies will emerge that allow us to surveil the powerful in new ways for the first time in history, whether they like it or not.
- aetherson 12y ago
  What are the corporations/who are the wealthy people you imagine are driving this? What corporate interests do you think this serves?
- javajosh 12y ago
  >The state is increasingly controlled by the hyper-wealthy individuals and corporations that fund politics, and its policies and propaganda increasingly reflect their interests. The root problem isn't money in politics, but alienation of voters from the the real business of government, a business people must understand if they are to hire (elect) the right people to run it. Political money just fills the void of that ignorance. That business is fundamentally an allocation game that starts with accumulation from taxes, fines and fees and ends with a set of spending decisions over time. This "spending decision set" represents a much greater degree-of-freedom than the traditional, policy-obsessed "how a bill becomes a law" narrative from school would imply. One key part is the appointment game, where an elected executive leader assigns arbitrary people to run major government departments, who themselves get wide discretion with "operational policy", policies that have the most impact on tax payers and yet get the least attention. So, yeah, let's start focusing on government as a hierarchy of allocation and policy decisions.

blueskin_ 12y ago

Australia seems to be leading the world in oppression in a way even the US has yet to manage.

coldcode 12y ago
They actually seem more like wanting to be China South. Control everything online and you control the population.
- gumby 12y ago
  Australia is basically a mining province of China these days. I don't mean this in some conspiracy theory sense, simply in a practical one: you can see that the exchange rate, GDP growth etc are functions of what happens to the Chinese economy.
fit2rule 12y ago
This has been true of Australia for decades. The corporate elite have been using Australia as a proving-ground for their strategies for a long time now, since Australia is one of those western nations where heinous, fascist behaviour, has been permitted for centuries. The colonial/imperial systems used to rule Australian society - and destroy its previous occupants - have been refined and enhanced for application in the modern era, without much hindrance alas.
- rustynails 12y ago
  Most of your other comments are fair about Audtralia. This one is not. Australia has always been apathetic - "she'll be right" was our catch cry. Until recently (the last 20 years or so), we maintained that casual attitude. Since then, we have culturally become Americanised through TV and movies. With it has come a callousness and a higher level of sophistication and a greater sense of entitlement. I would suggest two points. It's a combination of apathy and self-focus that are driving our indifference to draconian policy. The second point is that the crimes you accuse Australia of are typical throughout the west. While I don't like to see what Australia has become, other western countries are no better. Does anyone remember the blue ribbon campaign about free speech from the 90s? I went into all of the Australian IRC channels before the news hit. I called for my fellow Australians to rise to protect their freedoms. I don't think I've been attacked so viciously by so many people before or since that day.. That was and still remains Australia's apathy. Like you, I feel we are in the minority in Australia. Social consciousness and concern for others rights is not on the landscape.

msandford 12y ago

The article linked in the article about how to dodge these new laws has some particularly asinine advice: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/australian-government-minister-dodge-new-data-retention-law-like-this/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/australian-govern... The guy says "just use skype" because then the telco doesn't know who you're calling, just that you called skype. Sure, because there's NO POSSIBLE WAY for Skype to get a subpoena, right?

jdub 12y ago
"The guy" is the Minister for Communications. :-) (He's not directly responsible for the law, as it is in the purview of the Attorney General, but the Minister for Communications is a minister of the government.)
nl 12y ago
Sure, because there's NO POSSIBLE WAY for Skype to get a subpoena, right? But that's exactly the point!! Subpoenas and warrants require due process and probable cause (especially in the case of Skype, which is cross borders). The data retention regime - for the most part - removes that and requires nothing more than a (possibly automated) request.
- msandford 12y ago
  There's an easy fix for that. "We have classified your service (Skype, whatever) as 'telecommunications' and unless you give us this stuff without a warrant we're going to start arresting your folks in-country and work on extraditing your executives" Due process averted.
  - nl 12y ago
    Yeah, except we (Australia) never, ever try to exert any power over a US based company. (Actually, Skype would be under the telecommunications act if they were Australian anyway. See http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/9.%20Overview%3A%20Impact%20of%20Developing%20Technology%20on%20Privacy/voice-over-internet-protocol http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/9.%20Overview%3A%20Impac...)

steven2012 12y ago

What happened in the last few years to allow our civil rights in the most forward thinking countries to unravel so easily? And why do citizens not care? How is it possible that all countries have elected such a group of corrupt, nearsighted politicians to the point where freedom is an inconvenience over them consolidating practically dictatorial power? And again, why does no one care?

toyg 12y ago
It's a combination of unprecedented wealth (let's be honest, modern poverty in industrialized countries is nothing like it was back in the '50s) and the continuous rise of asymmetric warfare randomly deployed by psychopaths. In Sydney, the "cafe kidnap" attack is still fresh in everyone's mind. We've had bombs in London and Madrid, plus a number of other scares, and when a population feels threatened, they'll typically hand power to the first dictator with a minimum of skill. As long as we're free to buy porn and videogames, most people just don't care.
- mhurron 12y ago
  > We've had bombs in London Did they react this way during the Troubles? I don't think they did. I was in London in '92 and there was a bomb threat called in at the tube station one stop over. It delayed the train for a bit, but that was it and everyone continued on like normal. This time the US freaks out because the world came to their doorstep and they flip out because they have no idea how to handle it. The leaders flip out causes the population to freak out and they trun around and grant legal weight to every stupid idea that comes flying out of polititians mouths. It seems the UK learned from this, so when there is a little bomb plot in London, the leaders go full retard, the people get scared and do the same thing. It's like everyone figured out the best way to get more power is to act like you've been caught with your pants down so that you're the one who scared the population, not whatever actually happened. After everyone has finished running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and the dust settles, the government finds itself with all these extra powers.
  - pyre 12y ago

phkahler 12y ago

Does anyone have a nice SVG image of a canary? Or it illegal to put that on a website?

llamataboot 12y ago
Not sure why were downvoted here. It does seem that there is some plausible deniability about having a picture on your website that may or may not have anything to do with warrants that could still convey information to those looking for it.
- macspoofing 12y ago
  Lawyers aren't idiots. Judges aren't idiots. Lawmakers aren't idiots. If a law says you cannot disclose a government request, then trying to get around the injunction by playing games isn't going to do anything for you.
  - phkahler 12y ago
    That depends. Using absurdly simple means to point out the absurdity of someone else can be effective. Remember how PGP was printed in book form to circumvent export controls? Or how about DeCSS on a T-shirt? How about those magic flags that encode an illegal number in the hex codes of the colors? No, I think it's worth asking if it is now illegal to put an image of a canary on a web page in Australia. If the answer is "no" that says a lot.
  - BonsaiDen 12y ago
    Thing is though, this and stuff like "hand over the keys to that encrypted data" are really easy ways of getting just about everyone into prison. I could for example argue that you, by changing the profile picture on your blog, have used a warrant canary too. Do you have any way of proving that you didn't? You certainly can't argue that you don't need one (this would imply you haven't receive a NSL which would be a warrant canary statement in itself), you can still argue that you haven't used your profile picture as one, but then we're back to square one, with them saying "You have!" If the government wants you in prison, they'll find a way.

mnw21cam 12y ago

Cool. So, if I was to publicly announce "I have never been given a warrant demanding I hand over data by the Australian government", then I will have committed a crime attracting a two year prison sentence, and I should never visit the country?

nmc 12y ago
Yes. At least, that is how it reads. We will have to see how it gets enforced.
- pc2g4d 12y ago
  How strong is Australia's right to free speech?
  - a_bonobo 12y ago
    Australia has interesting laws in that case, and they're not very good: >Australia does not have explicit freedom of speech in any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights, with the exception of political speech which is protected from criminal prosecution at common law per Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth. There is however an implied freedom of speech that was recognised in Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation[48] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#A...

jchrisa 12y ago

Someone should make a website where you can check off a list of countries you want to be barred from, and then it sends out an illegal tweet for each country.

VonGuard 12y ago

Australia is officially the only place in the world where the laws and technological restrictions make me never want to go there. Bandwidth is capped, porn is filtered, videogames cost a ridiculous amount. I know the country was founded by criminals, but I didn't realize they still ran the place.

masmullin 12y ago
> I know the country was founded by criminals, but I didn't realize they still ran the place. The head of state is still an inherited position
mercurial 12y ago
Enjoy your world tour of such havens of freedom as most of the Middle East, North Korea, Cuba... Obviously, the current Australian government is a disaster in many areas, but there are a large number of places which are considerably worse.
- papaf 12y ago
  Maybe the Australian tourist board could adopt the slogan, "Australia, not as bad as North Korea". Or maybe the Australian people could aim a little higher?
NeutronBoy 12y ago
> videogames cost a ridiculous amount Yes, but it's a lot of currency/cost of living differences as well.

dang 12y ago

Url changed from http://boingboing.net/2015/03/26/australia-outlaws-warrant-cana.html http://boingboing.net/2015/03/26/australia-outlaws-warrant-c..., which points to this.

JulianMorrison 12y ago

Can we just all agree that governments, all of 'em, are the damn enemy?

ashmud 12y ago

This also puts Australia on the blacklist for hosting a VPN service, if they were not already, I assume.

duskwuff 12y ago
Prohibitive bandwidth costs already made it a very poor location for one.
- sasas 12y ago
  Torguard has a VPN gateway to Australia.

moyix 12y ago

I'm honestly surprised they had to make a law against it. It has always seemed to me that warrant canaries would not survive their first contact with the judicial system; it's a clear attempt to circumvent the intent of the law through a technical loophole. Judges aren't stupid and they tend to not look very kindly on such legal "hacks". (Related: http://xkcd.com/1494/ http://xkcd.com/1494/)

rsync 12y ago

The warrant canary is not a solution to the problem of secret legal actions. It's merely a protest. As we see the warrant canary idea institutionalized - with companies like Apple and Twitter adopting them to a certain degree, and cataloguing them on sites like canary watch[1] we are falling down a rabbit hole of speech about speech (and speech about speech about speech, etc.). The real issue is NSLs and other secret warrants. These are older than you might think. Look up PRTT (pen register trap and trace, for telephones, which can be served with a gag order) or the All Writs Act. This is what we need to be working against, and this is what falls to the background as we find new and better ways to run our warrant canaries. I am guilty of this.[2] [1] https://canarywatch.org/ https://canarywatch.org/ [2] http://www.rsync.net/resources/notices/canary.txt http://www.rsync.net/resources/notices/canary.txt

shit_parade 12y ago
Yes, people and companies need to openly defy unjust laws. NSLs should immediately be published upon receipt and litigated against.

DiaaAttia 12y ago

Hello, I would like to share my experience with http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype http://preply.com/en/german-by-skype for both students and tutors in order to get the most testimony from this wonderful website, I am currently learning German there with native speakers and I must say that the quality presented is excellent and satisfying

DiaaAttia 12y ago

shit_parade 12y ago

Nothing will change until people stop complying with government demands.

lowbloodsugar 12y ago

I have not been served with a warrant. In so saying, I have just committed a crime? WTF

Veedrac 12y ago
This should be meme-ified: #IHaveNotBeenServedWithAWarrant.