back to article Gov and ISPs clash over informal policing of net

A row is brewing today between government and ISPs following suggestions that greater informal policing of internet content might be needed, along with a new self-regulatory body to carry out the task. The proposal arose as Culture Minister Ed Vaizey spoke at the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) 2010 Annual Report launch …

COMMENTS

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  1. Steve Brooks

    No to censorsip.

    So here we are, the number one reason for not allowing ANY censorship at all, it ALWAYS leads to scope creep to cover material that's not illegal but just undesirable. Let this be a lesson to all free people, censorship leads to repression, always has, always will. Even where you give a little just to cover truly abhorret material, this is just seen as proof of concept, you can block A, therefore you can block B, C and D, so do it.

    If its illegal, arrest the people creating, hosting it, distributing it, if its not illegal leave it damn well alone.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    It's not opt-in...

    ...It's opt-*out*. As in I'm opting out of unwanted interference of my online activities.

    I really wish places like this could at least get that right.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      or

      It's opt in because you are opting into getting services the government believes you are deviant for wanting.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    Never really about porn.

    I said this was really about blocking pirated IP and not porn when it was first mentioned on here a few weeks back.

    The trouble is they need a precedent of blocking certain types of material by ISPs and where better to start than screaming about child safety.

    As soon as they can control what content ISPs must block then we are all screwed.

    Next will come the blocking of pirated material.

    It wont stop there mind you, they will be blocking unpopular thought before we know what hit us.

    1. g e
      Stop

      Why it won't be Pirated material

      Because legislation will be

      Allegedly Pirated Material

      as doubtless purchased/mandated by their media paymasters

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What next?

    Are they going to block access to Anonymous?

    What about Wikileaks?

    Then it'll be *suspected* copyright infringement.

    Soon everyone that wants a proper internet connection will be using a VPN. Using a VPN isnt so bad but sites like google think you're in germany, sweden or some other place.

    Then they'll have to block all encrypted traffic. It will end up as a walled-garden with a whitelist of accessible sites with everything else off limits.

    1. There's a bee in my bot net

      Stenography?

      If they ban encrypted traffic then you could just embed your encrypted traffic in plain site in normal data...

      1. Kevin Johnston

        Stenography

        I think you mean steganography

        I would get my coat but I've lost sight of it in that huge detailed picture.

        1. The Other Steve
          Flame

          No no, stenography

          Simply replace the whole IP infrastructure with a load of dolly birds managed by Sid James-esque foremen doing typewriter samizdat of knob gags and posting them on to everyone. It will be practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

          On a more serious note, all censorship is oppression and not to be tolerated. anyone who believes otherwise, who believes that can be "good" censorship for "good" reasons is lucky enough never to have had the immense misfortune of spending quality time with any of it's more vociferous proponents such as the late and very much unlamented cakky fingered old witch Whitehouse or any of her contemporaries, or any of their modern reincarnations.

          There is, quite simply, nothing - and I mean nothing - that more inimical to mankind than allowing these motherfuckers even the merest illusion that they are in control. The day I met Whitehousse, as a small child, the very category of being she was supposedly sworn to protect, was the day

          I knew for certain that evil exists in the world.

          No doubt someone will be along in a minute to tell me that kidpron is worse. It isn't. It is horrendously bad, but in the hierarchy of things which are evil to humanity, not just humans,there are things which trump it.

          Flame on, bitches.

  5. Elmer Phud
    Black Helicopters

    Cu ture Secretary

    I thought it was all about "Big Society" where we, as groups of responsible citizens upheld the lawanorder due to the impending lack of police officers. Are we not be trusted with our individual net access but are trusted to form community groups?

    What sort of culture is this to be then? One with apparent local control but eventually one big central hand to slap us down should locals get too uppity. They say that China may well be the superpower of this century, we're getting a head start on other parts of the West.

  6. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Up

    "there is a world of difference...

    "...between blocking material that is generally agreed to be abhorrent and unlawful across the world, and blocking or policing where different regulatory regimes are in play."

    Hear hear!

    Unfortunately there are too many people (a lot of them were in the last government) who think that *their* definitions of what is "abhorrent" are the only ones that matter and that they should thereby be able to dictate what everyone else is allowed to see.

    Regrettably, however, it seems that (especially on the Tory side of the coalition) the same mentality exists...

  7. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    FAIL

    This job seeems *infected*

    Him *and* his predecessors have all been ignorant of the internet and wanted to control/throttle/censor it of *anything* they deem "Harmful."

    I bet he's still a fan of the "Age rate *every* website" b***cks thought up by back bench bonehead Ms Perry.

  8. Old Handle

    Opt-in adult content

    Here's an idea. How about we set it up so it doesn't give you adult content unless you opt in typing or clicking on the URL of the content in question.

  9. kain preacher

    one question

    Were do these bat shit insane politicians come from ? How do they get power ?

    Ok so that's 2 questions . But seriously what's with the west and letting nutty politicians have power . Seems like this folks want to put a chip in your head that can track you and block you from seeing harmful things. I mean these folks are starting to make Kim Jong-il look sane.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Black Helicopters

      They're just bored.....

      After a few cocktails at an election party, some (or many) dim-witted citizens will get up and rant about what is wrong with the world and before you know it.....censorship, stiffer drug penalties and anti-piracy legislation are all on the agenda......first at the town hall.... and then slowly moving up the ladder. All citizens must know that porn, drugs and listening to free music are the root of the world's evils, Today's pot-smoking porn.watching, downloading freetard is tomorrow's underwear bomber.

      And that's because all politics are local....and now that we live in a global village, bad (and even good) ideas can spread at the speed of light. Somebody's got to hold the lever right? Think of the corporations!!!

      Myself and a few right-minded individuals are working on an application that will do real time flltering of all potential politician's sensory inputs. When they apply for the job, a special chip will be fitted into their cerebellum. The embedded program will prevent them from actually hearing or seeing lobbyists with great ideas (and fat check-books). They will be forced to process and learn about actual, factual research and demonstrate their grasp of social issues and problems before they are allowed any contact with the voting public. Then they will have to take an intelligence test before running for office. Test results will be publicly available and standards commitees will determine whether or not someone is fit for public office. Test Flunkees will need to get real jobs for a while before they can re-apply (anything else would be undemocratic and a violation of human rights). Eventually, opportunists will become the exception instead of the norm. So by raising the bar we might just save the world....and if that doesn't work we can still shoot them (this is an undocumented chip feature, still under review). Its time for some people power, .... we've got to chip the b*ds now before its too late and they learn how to use computers..

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Informal Policing"?

    No such thing. If they want to police the public then they should actually use the police and have the decency to openly craft the appropriate laws. The approach advocated here avoids scrutiny and responsibility - characteristics of an agenda that they know they can't justify.

  11. Malcolm Boura, British Naturism

    Inappropriate = prejudice

    Harmful - no problem, provided that it is based on evidence.

    Inappropriate - given the word harmful can only mean "What we don't like". In other words prejudice.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ed Vaizey - Hey, now we've banned the illegal stuff...

    Lets ban the legal stuff.

    Anyone who likes the stuff we don't like must be a pervert.

    Bla bla bla.

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