Filter vendors lining up for their piece of the pie

An article by Luke Coleman in today's Communications Day (subscription required, though the article might show up there after a delay) details how ISPs are already being lobbied by filtering companies, all eager to cash in on the anticipated government-mandated bonanza.

Internode carrier relations manager John Lindsay says "many" vendors have contacted his company, and that based on their pricing the cost of filtering software alone would exceed the Government's budget by 50%.

The article suggests that service providers with smaller market shares may be hit the hardest by the scheme. Since the filter vendors often use a sliding scale in pricing their licenses, smaller ISPs may be have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden. Exetel technology director Steve Waddington said, “If the cost turned out to be in the range of a dollar or more per customer, I don’t see any option but to pass the cost on. The net profit from an average ADSL customer is well less than $4 per month, and for some plans less than $2. I think we would have to treat such an imposed cost as another form of tax we collect for the government.”

You can't blame the filter companies for getting excited. They are in a pretty small club of those who are.