McDonalds new free in store WiFi service will be filtered according to Australian IT. They’ll be deploying Earthwave’s Clean Pipes service to offer a ‘Family Friendly’ and secure net service. Makes sense given Macca’s is a private family friendly restaurant.
Earthwave chief executive Carlo Minassian says:
“The policy includes more than 100 pre-defined categories, as well as black and white lists that McDonald’s can control,” he said. “Authorised managers will have access to a secure Earthport portal via an RSA SecurID token, where they can make changes to their policy.”
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Clean Pipes will also monitor and protect against threats arising from internet traffic generated by customers using the WiFi hotspots.
I wonder if HungryJacks.com.au is on the black or the white?
6 comments
conan1989 says:
Oct 28, 2008
this is an example of a reasonable implementation… does not fuck over the country
Mike says:
Oct 28, 2008
If a company wants to do it, it’s their business I think. Whether it’s effective doesn’t matter, they have every right to do it and as you say, it doesn’t mess with the entire country.
Simon says:
Oct 28, 2008
I hate pointing out the obvious and preaching to the chior, but here goes anyway.
Yes, if the leaders of a company want to implement this kind of thing that’s fine – in this particular instance, if I were on the McDonalds board, I’d even be a supporter of the policy.
And so to, if the leaders of a household feel the need to implement a filtering regime (which from my own experiences a teenager can circumvent in a matter of hours), that’s fine. Even commendable in many instances.
All power too them – not all power to the Government.
adam says:
Oct 29, 2008
mcdonalds is a privately owned company, and they are provideing a service for free, so they are perfectly within their rights to choose to filter their wifi if they wish.
The government however… (not going to bother to point out what this website’s basic intention is to point out)
Jarrod says:
Oct 29, 2008
Fair enough, Maccas has the rights to do this and its their business so they can operate how they want.
Ben says:
Nov 2, 2008
Not just that they’re a private business, but that the very nature of the service means it is able to be accessed by children even if not being directly used by them. I have no qualms with filtering on publicly visible computers (e.g. libraries, schools, public wi-fi hotspots) because the solution is not just a matter of parental supervision and education.
Private dwellings, however …