Australia’s third largest Internet Service Provider, iiNet, has issued a press release confirming that they have dropped out of the Federal Government’s internet filter trial.

Managing Director Michael Malone, who has been stating throughout the entire process that they only agreed to participate in the trial to demonstrate just how flawed the idea is, had some interesting things to say…

It became increasingly clear that the trial was not simply about restricting child pornography or other such illegal material, but a much wider range of issues including what the Government simply describes as “unwanted material” without an explanation of what that includes.

Everyone is repulsed by, and opposed to, child pornography but this trial and policy is not the solution or even about that.

In reality, the vast majority of online child pornography activity does not appear on public websites but is distributed over peer-to-peer networks which are not and cannot be captured by this trial or policy.

iiNet’s withdrawal means that the trial continues without any representation from the country’s three largest Internet Service Providers.

I wonder what will happen next with the comedy of errors affectionately known as the Great Aussie Firewall.