$84 Million Government Porn Filter Cracked by Teen

A 16-year-old Australian teen, Tom Wood, found a work-around on the Australian government's porn filter that was released last Tuesday:

His technique ensures the software's toolbar icon is not deleted, leaving parents under the impression the filter is still working.

A former cyber bullying victim, Tom feared a computer-savvy child could work out the bypass and put it on the Internet for others to use.

Tom, who spoke to Communications Minister Helen Coonan about cyber safety during a forum in May, said the Federal Government should have developed a better Australian made filter.

"It's a horrible waste of money," he said.

"They could get a much better filter for a few million dollars made here rather than paying overseas companies for an ineffective one."

$84-million?!?! The Australian government just seems silly for spending so much money on this. The last time I was in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory at a hearing, the politicians were all yelling over each other, another man was screaming "order" swinging his gravel around and a midget came out serving tea. Then I went outside, curled up into a ball and rolled off the roof.

The capital is built into a the side of a hill, making it easy to do that rolling part.

Photo by Delgoff via Flickr