Telstra slammed the government at an Australian Internet Service Provider conference held in Melbourne Tuesday, saying that forcing ISPs to filter information available on the Web is a joke.
Telstra content director John Rolland -- speaking at the event about business opportunities for ISPs - responded to a question relating to Telstra's stance on content filtering.
"The government is a shareholder of Telstra, however we believe [content filtering] is a joke, it cannot be controlled," Rolland said. "We're in there with the big guys boots and all," he said.
In January this year the federal government endorsed the Code of Practice for ISPs, which places companies wholly responsible for content that is filtered through the server. If an ISP doesn't comply with government's approved list of filters and hosts content that is deemed inappropriate, the company will be issued with a formal demand called a take down notice.
Rolland later told ZDNet Australia that Telstra doesn't support the government's content control measures because the carrier questions the viability of ordering such take down notices.
"The technical capabilities of shutting down a server is impossible, they'll just move the operation off shore. It's the same issue as the whole gambling debate," Rolland said.
According to Rolland, to make ISPs the point of control is not appropriate.
"They don't ask Australia Post to open every single letter," he said.
Rolland told ZDNet Australia that Telstra has tested family related content filtering on the company's servers, supporting some elements of the self-regulatory code from the Internet Industry Association.
"We've never seen Telstra as working separately from industry, we're a part of the industry," Rolland said.
