Journalists (and other reliable sources) on Twitter are reporting that Senator Conroy’s office has announced Optus will participate in the DBCDE ISP filtering trial. A media release was emailed from Conroy’s office this afternoon, but has not been published on his site yet.
Update (3:42PM): Press release published on minister’s site.
Here are excerpts from the release:
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced that Optus will participate in the Australian Government’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) filtering pilot.
“Optus is an active participant in the cyber-safety space, with a range of initiatives to help Australian families enjoy a safer internet experience,” Senator Conroy said. “I am pleased to announce its participation in the pilot.”
“The participation of Optus will help ensure the Government obtains robust results from the pilot, which will inform the evidence-based development of our ISP filtering policy.”
[…]
The Government is also working constructively with Telstra on the technical testing of ISP filtering technologies. These tests do not involve actual customers and therefore are not being conducted as part of the pilot, however it is hoped that the results will feed into the Government’s policy considerations.
For the purposes of the pilot, Optus will filter the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) existing blacklist of prohibited and potentially prohibited content for a selection of its customers who volunteer to participate.
The Government is examining the introduction of ISP level filtering for Refused Classification material as identified under the National Classification Scheme and the ACMA complaints process. Refused Classification material includes child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act.
