back to article Fancy some mobile filth? New logo tells you when not to bother

Providers of public Wi-Fi services could soon display a form of trust mark to indicate their networks prevent access to pornographic content, the UK government has said. The government said that some major Wi-Fi providers were looking into the possibility of establishing such a trust mark scheme in collaboration with the UK …

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  1. jake Silver badge

    One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

    The claim that filters will work to "protect children from harm" is complete bullshit.

    The ONLY thing that will protect children from the ugly underbelly of civilization that is TheIntraWebTubes is their parent(s) or guardian(s) monitoring all of their IntraWebTubes activity. And I mean every fucking second.

    You were 13/14 years old & curious once, right? Why do you think your kids aren't? Are you really so fucking stupid that you think a fucking filter will stop today's kids from accessing pr0n? Hands up anyone who was an early teen in the early 1970s who didn't have (occasional) access to Playboy or Penthouse or Hustler or the like.

    ::crickets::

    That's what I thought ... Get off your fucking high-horse & fucking PARENT, already!

    1. Velv
      Childcatcher

      Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

      While I sympathise in so many ways with your "GO PARENT" statement, I do need however to point out that times have changed.

      Never in human history have horny little teenagers had so much access to material of an adult nature. You may have had a little stash somewhere, but you couldn't exactly carry it around in your schoolbag and whip it out on a bus (not regularly at least). As you yourself admit, it was "occasional" access to Playboy.

      I don't agree with wholesale censorship. I largely agree it's the parents that need to parent properly. But in reality you cannot chaperone kids 24/7 - you weren't. And we're not just talking teenagers. Toddlers get to play on devices these days - you can't parent them in the same way as a teenager (although neither is particularly receptive to reasoned discussions, but for different reason). Maybe 2 is too young to have access, but is 5. Or 8? Or 11?

      Perhaps if the devices themselves allowed better and easier parental control then parents could extend their parenting beyond shoulder surfing the youngster. (Industry, are you listening)

      1. Crisp

        Never in human history have horny little teenagers... etc

        No more so than the rest of the population that enjoys porn. If you think that a horny 15 year old doesn't have access to the same material, then you've severely underestimated the biological imperative to seek out sex that appears to exist in all young boys.

      2. Flywheel
        Facepalm

        Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

        "Toddlers get to play on devices these days - you can't parent them in the same way as a teenage"

        Good grief, why on earth not? If you can't stop a toddler accessing porn you're in the wrong job.

        I do agree that the answer lies in the ability to lock down devices with a finer degree of control, but at the end of the day, the PARENT is the one who should just say no. And perhaps if a few more parents did say NO from time to time we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now.

      3. jake Silver badge

        @Velv (was: Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?)

        Bottom line: Kids can't legally sign the contract for their iFad/Fandroid. It's a parental issue, not a governmental issue. The PARENTS are actually ENABLING the little sex-starved brats to access porn.

        How's that for a dirty little secret?

    2. Tom 38
      Stop

      Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

      Simple fact of the matter is that all the porn in the world was available in the nation's hedges when we were kids, where as for today's kids they can get access to porn in the safety of their own home.

      Restricting the flow of porn to kids will only drive porn back out to the hedge row. Won't someone think of the kids and stop sending them out in to the cold wet night to find pages of "Readers Wives".

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

        I've started to wonder if there's going to be an unknown hero leaving unfiltered internet in hedges for this generations aspiring pervert.

        1. TeeCee Gold badge
          WTF?

          Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

          We need to be tough on hedges and tough on the causes of hedges.

          Obviously a massive deployment of military-grade defoliants is the answer.

          1. Crisp

            So we're decided then

            The way to stop kids from accessing porn is to burn down all the hedges.

            1. Tom 38

              Re: So we're decided then

              No, we can't burn down all the hedges, but the police do need to know when you visit hedges. Therefore, in future, all visits to hedges will be recorded in a big diary hanging at the end by the hawthorne. You don't have to write down what you were doing, just who you were talking to and for how long.

    3. Euripides Pants
      Pint

      Re: One way to tell that a political position is clueless about how the internet works?

      Although I agree with what you say, you really should consider switching to decaf.

      Or beer...

  2. I_am_Chris

    Simple

    " "Parents need to be confident that their children are not exposed to adult content when out and about in public places," Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson, said."

    This is such a middle class 'problem' - just don't give your spoilt brats iphones. Problem. Solved.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does this mean the public wifi providers will be liable if you manage to download some pron on their network?

    1. NomNomNom
      Trollface

      1. Setup your laptop in a busy public wifi zone where the trust mark is advertised

      2. Search frantically for porn

      3. Find it.

      4. Jump out your seat screaming, turning to the rest of the room with a horrified look on your face while jabbing your finger at the screen. PORN!! PORN!! WE'RE NOT SAFE HERE!!!! PORN FOUND ME!!!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    VPN anybody?

    The ISPs implementing these filters would presumably be the same ISPs that (sensibly) recommend that you connect via a VPN when using public hotspots, thus rendering their filters completely ineffective?

  5. This Side Up
    Devil

    Sounds like a challenge to me

    I mean it'll be more fun getting around the filters than seeing what you find at the end. And of course it will give naïve parents a false sense of security.

    As for opt-in or opt-out, does it really make any difference? Just tell the ISP whether you want parental controls or not.

  6. Crisp

    Too much time and money invested in worrying about the digital boogeyman

    And not enough time spent by parents keeping an eye on their kids.

  7. frank ly

    Logo?

    I'm thinking of a circle, with a line through it........ behind/under the line is a stylised representation of ......hmmm.

    1. Robert Helpmann??
      Childcatcher

      Re: Logo?

      I'm thinking of a circle, with a line through it

      Défense de nichoner!

  8. Anonymous Coward 15
    Paris Hilton

    Won't they just go somewhere that doesn't have the logo/where the WiFi isn't from one of the major brands?

  9. Zippy's Sausage Factory

    All I've ever found is that these filters generally don't block any porn, just actual useful sites.

    Case in point - I once made someone very angry by demonstrating that their "child friendly" hotspot blocked NHS Direct, but happily left RedTube accessible.

    1. David Hicks

      Yup. I opted out of orange's filtering after the time I was at a music festival and wanted to look up the lineup, only to find the site blocked for 'adult content'.

      Of course the immediate solution (and I'm sure one the kids are capable of) is to install Orbot :)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I've had this problem

      Like most normal adults, I don't tend to seek out pornography in public, however my mobile provider not only blocks grot with its adult filter, it also blocks things like b3ta.

      Then again I once worked at a workplace with websense that blocked the same site under the category 'tasteless'.

  10. Fading
    Devil

    Is porn a problem?

    As a nation (UK) sex has always been a taboo - whilst in other more Scandinavian countries sex/porn has always been more accessible. Now unless we are suggesting Scandinavia is a cess pit of biblical proportions perhaps this anti porn thing is a little hysterical?

    Maybe more porn of the sort we wish to encourage (loving situations between adults) is the answer not draconian lock downs that encourage work arounds that expose the less wholesome side of the internet?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is porn a problem?

      Your title reminded me of this recent article by a clinical psychologist.

      Porn is not the problem - you are.

      Essentially it says that people who are "addicted to porn" are actually just those people who can't stop thinking with their genitals and who would be facing different social dilemmas in a society without porn.

      1. flibbertigibbet
        Devil

        Re: Is porn a problem?

        @Mycho: Porn is not the problem - you are.

        Don't confuse the argument with facts. This has nothing to do with facts.

        These people don't like porn. It's a simple thing. Logic, reality or reasoning has nothing to do with it. Porn is bad. They want you to just accept it with without thinking. Can't blame them really, as it's a bit like my attitude to Brussels sprouts.

        The nasty bit is they don't care what you think have to because they have the reigns of power now, so they will do what's good for you even if you don't like it. You'll be better off for it, they swear.

        Don't worry, just be patient. if you are the same as them, you will get to have your revenge when the pendulum swings the other way.

    2. Crisp

      Re: As a nation (UK) sex has always been a taboo

      Since when?

      I remember seeing more tits in Carry On movies from the 60's than anything else I ever saw on TV.

    3. Graham Marsden
      Childcatcher

      Re: Is porn a problem?

      The real problem is the people who say "We don't like this, so *you* should not be allowed to see it because we don't trust you to act responsibly if you do."

      The real solution is to *educate* not legislate.

      Passing laws banning stuff never works. Ban alcohol? You get speakeasies. Ban drugs? You fund the illegal trade. Ban the possession of "extreme porn"? Just stream it off the web. Etc, etc etc.

      Take responsibility for your offspring and teach your children that there's more to sex than porn. Educating them about relationships and responsibility and respect will do more to solve the problem than all the laws you can pass.

  11. Tommy Pock

    Just plain mister will do.

    Opera Mini. It really is that simple.

    The app only talks to Opera's servers - with end-to-end encryption. Any site you visit is hidden from everyone except you and everyone who works for Opera.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Save us from the bloody Puritans

    Please, someone.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Coat

      Re: Save us from the bloody Puritans

      I reckon it's about time that we had another round of stuffing them into ships and sending them off across the Atlantic.

      1. Flip

        Re: Save us from the bloody Puritans

        Go ahead, but now there are folks who have the power to send them back to you.

  13. Shaha Alam

    What's the problem?

    I don't understand why people have such an issue with this. Noone's forcing anyone to sign up to a service that implements filtering. you want it, you sign up to it. you don't want it, use any of the other unfiltered services.

    1. Neoc
      Thumb Down

      Re: What's the problem?

      ...and if you have nothing to hid, you have nothing to fear...

      ...when they came for the <group x>, I said nothing for I was not an <x>...

      You, sir, are why oppressive regimes are allowed to appear. Sure, it's all "for the public good" now - but once again there's no talk on who will oversea this filtering, how it gets implemented, what kind of safeguards, etc, etc, etc...

  14. David 45

    Waffle and piffle

    Oh dear. Yet another "think of the children" excuse rolled out again in order to nanny us poor citizens who can't think for themselves (or so "they" seem to believe) and to censor the net (no other word for it). Doesn't good parenting somehow enter the equation?

  15. Neoc
    Facepalm

    Wrong end of the stick

    ""Parents need to be confident that their children are not exposed to adult content when out and about in public places," Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson, said."

    So let me get this straight - instead of getting parents to do their jobs (educating their kids, looking after said kids, etc...) we are, once again, making the world "safe" so that the parents can blame The World when the kindlywonks actually access forbidden material.

    <facepalm>

    Really? What's next - banning sharp corners on any object that kids might possibly be running past? Put up barriers around any and all rivers, lakes and fountains because said sprogs might wander into them? At which point do we finally say "STOP - it's YOUR kid. YOU look after it and don't blame the rest of us if you fail as a parent."

  16. knightred

    actually... why not a MSRB rating system

    Why not have a system like video games, movies, and comics have? I agree at 13 I was anxiously waiting as LINE BY LINE a naked woman's jpg appeared on my screen from an IRC download. However, most legit porn sites have no problem limiting underage access. It's not in their interest to have ppl without credit cards view their site. First, free views take BW and the idea of free views is to have eventual (in 5 minutes) credit card information pass the gateway. Tubesites even not withstanding, they want CC passes now as well.

    So why not have a simple MSRB system for websites. Maybe a simple meta tag that says "porn" then the parental controls on the computer can say block / not-block. You will be right to say "what about non-compliant sites"... but you'll get a vast majority, money is king in porn and without a CC there's no reason for you to view a porn site! There's always IRC anyway and if my kids are smart enough and want to get porn, then well you know it's a good learning lesson in bypassing security, however moderate that security is. I mean you always start out picking locks on the bathroom or closet door with that screwdriver/push button hole in the center of the knob.

    Perhaps that meta tag is already there and it's just in the developers hand to implement with enough shout up.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Readers' Wives?

    It's not so much readers wives or Carry On tits I don't want my kids seeing as extreme violence and weird stuff that's out there.

    And yes teenagers did access 18+ mags but it was a bit harder to access than the endless hours of soft/hard/illegal you can now have piped straight to your bedroom.

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