Source Code

Newzbin 2 - an aggregator of copied-material available on BitTorrent alternative Usenet forums - will no longer be accessible from British Telecom internet accounts.

The Motion Picture Association brought the case in the latest attempt to stop illegaly-copied files eating into the profits of the creative industries, and from now, BT must block access to the site.

Rights groups have predictably complained of a 'dangerous' precedent being set.

Perhaps of concern to Australian web users, the judge ruled that BT must use its 'CleanFeed' blocking technology.

Ring any bells?  Readers will probably remember Communication Minister Stephen Conroy's deeply contested plans to introduce a 'clean feed' in Australia.

Conroy backed down on those plans last year, in the face of attacks from wide sections of the press, Google, the public, and even apparent criticism from Hilary Clinton.

Such critics have long complained that legitimate content will be locked out should 'clean feeds' gain prominence around the world, not to mention the effect that it might have on internet speeds.

Perhaps knowing when a fight's been lost, Conroy buckled.

"Some sections of the community have expressed concern about whether the range of material included in the RC (Restricted Content) category ... correctly reflects current community standards," Senator Conroy said last year, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report at the time.

But a recent report, also in the Herald, shows the government hasn't altogether dropped the plans.

This time, the blocking is voluntary: several ISPs have already signed up to block access to child porn websites.

Now, you won't get me decrying this. If there's one thing that had to be blocked, I, and likely most people, would settle on child porn.

But voluntary or not, there's a clear trend emerging of governments attempting to get ISPs to do their blocking for them, whether it's music and film, or more sinister content.

No government (no, not even China) can truly regulate the Internet as it stands.

Not only are there countless free proxy web addresses out there - a simple change in your browser settings allows you to pretend you're in a foreign country, thus avoiding local restrictions. There are plenty of easy to use websites where you merely type in a web address and have the site hide your IP address for you.

On top of this, much content of the sort the government would seek to block is not consumed on simply accessed websites which look like this one.

Only last month, the AFP cracked down on a paedophile ring that was using peer-to-peer file sharing networks to share their media.

And this brings us full-circle.

Since Napster rose and fall, file sharing websites have come and gone. There's always someone to fill your gap on the web. Programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, UTorrent and eMule have allowed non-technical geniuses to share movies and music with ease.

Governments can get ISPs to block them or try pull them down themselves a la Limewire and Pirate Bay, but it will continue to prove difficult.

Geek.com recently published a quick history of file sharing, while the Wikipidia entry - where else - provides sobering reading. One look at history and breadth of the movement, and politicians must know that stopping it short will be a costly, uphill battle.

File-sharing may have been tweaked, but its basic premise of cutting out 'the man' remains strong. Add to this the double-security of using proxies to hide your tracks within file-sharing software, and the AFP certainly has its work cut out.

For better or worse, the end of the file-sharing phenomenon appears a long, long way off.

Follow @billcode on Twitter.