Against Web blocking in the United Kingdom

1 child pornography

1.1 internet newsgroups
1.2 internet watch foundation
1.3 introduction of cleanfeed
1.4 iwf/wikipedia controversy
1.5 search engines
1.6 cartoons

child pornography

the first attempts regulate pornography on internet concerned child pornography. legislation in form of protection of children act 1978 existed making illegal take, make, distribute, show or possess indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of under age of 18. r v bowden case in 2000 established downloading indecent images of children internet constituted offence of making, since doing causes copy of image exist did not exist.

internet newsgroups

initial steps restrict pornography on internet taken uk police. in 1990s began take pro-active regulatory role respect internet, using existing legislation , working on self-tasking basis. in august 1996, metropolitan police clubs & vice unit sent open letter internet service providers association (ispa) supplying them list of 132 usenet discussion groups believed contain pornographic images or explicit text , requesting ban access them. list included newsgroups carried child pornography. ian taylor, conservative science , industry minister, warned isps police act against company provided users pornographic or violent material . taylor went on make clear there calls legislation regulate aspects of internet unless service providers seen wholeheartedly responsible self-regulation . following this, tabloid-style exposé of isp demon internet appeared in observer newspaper, alleged clive feather (a director of demon) provides paedophiles access thousands of photographs of children being sexually abused . during summer , autumn of 1996 uk police made known planning raid isp aim of launching test case regarding publication of obscene material on internet. action of uk police has been described amounting censorship without public or parliamentary debate. has been pointed out list supplied isps police in august included number of legitimate discussion groups concerned legal sexual subjects. these contained textual material without pictures not expected infringe uk obscenity laws.

internet watch foundation

the direct result of 1996 campaign of threats , pressure setting of internet watch foundation (iwf), independent body public report potentially criminal internet content, both child pornography , other forms of criminally obscene material. these reports passed on isps , police ‘notice , takedown’ service removal of potentially illegal content hosted in uk. intended arrangement protect internet industry criminal liability. iwf intended support development of website rating system. demon internet driving force behind iwf s creation, , 1 of directors, clive feather, became iwf s first chairman.

after 3 years of operation, iwf reviewed dti , home office consultants kpmg , denton hall. report delivered in october 1999 , resulted in number of changes being made role , structure of organisation, , relaunched in 2000, endorsed government , dti, played facilitating role in creation , according dti spokesman.

at time, patricia hewitt, minister e-commerce, said: internet watch foundation plays vital role in combating criminal material on net. counter accusations iwf biased in favour of isps, new independent chairman appointed, roger darlington, former head of research @ communication workers union.

introduction of cleanfeed

between 2004 , 2006, bt group introduced cleanfeed content blocking system technology implement section 97a orders. bt spokesman jon carter described cleanfeed s function block access illegal web sites listed internet watch foundation , , described server hosting filter checked requested urls web sites on iwf list, , returning error message of web site not found positive matches. cleanfeed silent content filtering system, means internet users cannot ascertain whether being regulated cleanfeed, experiencing connection failures, or if page not exist. proportion of internet service providers using cleanfeed beginning of 2006 80% , rose 95% middle of 2008. in february 2009, government said looking @ ways cover final 5%.

according small-sample survey conducted in 2008 nikolaos koumartzis, ma researcher @ london college of communication, vast majority of uk based internet users (90.21%) unaware of existence of cleanfeed software. moreover, 2 thirds of participants did not trust british telecommunications or iwf responsible silent censorship system in uk. majority prefer see message stating given site blocked , have access form unblocking given site.

cleanfeed targeted alleged child sexual abuse content identified internet watch foundation. however, no safeguards exist stop secret list of blocked sites being extended include sites unrelated child pornography. had led criticism of cleanfeed s lack of transparency gives considerable potential broad censorship. further, cleanfeed has been used block access copyright-infringing websites after court order in 2011 required bt block access newzbin2. has led describe cleanfeed invisible censorship mechanism ever invented , liken powers of censorship employed china. there risks increasing internet regulation lead internet more restricted in future.

iwf/wikipedia controversy

on 5 december 2008 iwf system blacklisted wikipedia article on scorpions album virgin killer. statement organisation s spokesman alleged album cover, displayed in article, contained potentially illegal indecent image of child under age of 18 . users of major isps, including virgin media, be/o2/telefónica, easynet/uk online, demon , opal, unable access content, despite album cover being available unfiltered on other major sites including amazon.co.uk, , available sale in uk. system started proxying users, accessed wikipedia article, via minimal number of servers, resulted in site administrators having block them editing wikipedia or creating accounts. on 9 december, iwf removed article blacklist, stating: iwf s overriding objective minimise availability of indecent images of children on internet, however, on occasion our efforts have had opposite effect.

search engines

the google search engine google search includes safesearch filter restricts content returned search. in december 2012 option turn filter off entirely removed.

in july 2013 prime minister david cameron called on internet search engines blacklist search terms, bring no results. microsoft responded introducing blacklist provided child exploitation , online protection centre (ceop). pop-up warning appears on uk version of search engine bing when searches contravene blacklist. in november 2013 google announced 100,000 blacklisted search terms no longer give results, while 13,000 produce warning message. child protection experts, including former head of ceop, have warned these measures not protect children because child pornography on internet on hidden networks inaccessible through these search engines.

cartoons

in 2009 uk ministry of justice claimed legislation needed reduce availability of hardcore paedophilic cartoon pornography on internet, particularly japan. decision made make possession of cartoon pornography depicting minors illegal in uk. coroners , justice act 2009 (sections 62–68), came force on 6 april 2010, created offence in england, wales , northern ireland of possession of prohibited image of child. maximum penalty 3 years imprisonment , listing on sex offender registry.

a prohibited cartoon image defined 1 involves minor in situations pornographic , grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of obscene character . act makes illegal own picture depicting under-18s participating in sexual activities, or depictions of sexual activity in presence of under 18 years old. definition of child in act includes depictions of 16- , 17-year-olds on age of consent in uk, adults predominant impression conveyed of person under age of 18. law has been condemned coalition of graphic artists, publishers, , mps, fearing criminalise graphic novels such lost girls , watchmen.