Külföldi torrent oldalak Telstra Offers Free Porn Filtering With Telstra Broadband Protect

As lobbyists push for mandatory porn filtering, Telstra has overhauled its opt-in "clean feed" and bundled it with other family-friendly features.

Mandatory porn filtering will certainly be next on the agenda now that Australia has anti-piracy laws for blocking sites like The Pirate Bay. There's no need to wait if you simply want to block access to the seedy side of the internet from your own home.

The idea of mandatory filtering understandably doesn't sit well with some people, as censorship is a slippery slope. Some people will argue that optional clean feeds add momentum to the push for mandatory porn filtering. Others will argue that services like Telstra Broadband Protect actually make it easier to argue against mandatory filtering, because it's less necessary when there are free and easy to use opt-in filters for everyone who wants them.

Telstra Broadband Protect is an optional extra with Telstra's new broadband plans, which are available on Tuesday to coincide with the launch of the nationwide Telstra Air Wi-Fi network.

If you want to stick with your old Telstra broadband plan you can add Telstra Broadband Protect for $9.95 per month.

Alternatively you can get some of the same features for free, regardless of your ISP, using services like OpenDNS Family Shield and Norton ConnectSafe.

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There are three main components to Telstra Broadband Protect; parental controls with website filtering, antivirus and "social network protection".

The website filtering is designed to automatically block websites known to host malicious content as well as scams, working hand-in-hand with the anti-virus software which is available for up to six computers and Android mobile devices.

Along with these protections, the account holder can enable parental controls to block inappropriate content like porn.

The website filtering features protect every device in your home, which means the filtering must be performed at the network or modem level – perhaps via DNS redirection.

This kind of filtering is far less likely to have an impact on internet speeds and general performance than installing clunky filtering software on every device.

Parents might also appreciate the "Homework Time" feature which lets you limit how much time children can spend on the internet as well as block access to entertainment sites when the children should be studying or sleeping. I'll double-check with Telstra, but I expect this is done by the modem using the IP address of the device you want to control.

Then we come to the social network protection, which is a lot more intrusive and seems to cross the line between protecting and spying. To quote Telstra;

"The software allows parents to help manage their children's social networking activity.

Parents can choose to receive notifications when their child connects with new 'friends', sees or posts images. Parents can also select to view other posts on their child's social network accounts to help make sure everyone is playing nice.

They can also choose to see what videos are being looked at on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to be on top of age-appropriate content."

I can see how this is a useful way to keep an eye on stranger danger and cyberbullying, but I question whether spying over a child's shoulder on everything they do is the best way to deal with these issues.

The most important things you can do to keep your children safe on the internet is take an interest in what they're doing online, talk to them about the dangers and encourage them to come to you when there is a problem.

You can't just hand those jobs over to filtering software.

The same with porn filtering – you can't simply outsource your parental responsibilities to a machine.

Services like Telstra Broadband Protect are useful, but not foolproof, when it comes to stopping young children accidentally stumbling onto inappropriate content.

It's a whole different ballgame when you're dealing with older children who are actively looking for ways to beat your web filtering efforts. Most of the tricks for beating government piracy filtering will also help teens bypass home roadblocks like Telstra Broadband Protect, so you're unlikely to outsmart them.

At the end of the day the keys to online safety are communication and trust.

How do you make your home a safe place to use the internet? Would you use a service like Telstra Broadband Protect?