UK Government Looking at Porn Next to Block by ISPs

Fresh with the after-glow of success after demanding that The Pirate Bay be blocked by several of the UK’s internet service providers, the British government is now turning its sights onto pornography.

I think that we all knew that barring The Pirate Bay would be the start of something more and now our beloved Government is settling down to consult with the ISPs about the possibility of blocking access all porn sites – in order to protect children.

We know how Government members (Arf!) enjoy a bit of adult entertainment, and even charge it to expenses, but this is surely the next step towards governmental internet censorship.

The idea is that adults would have to opt in to have access to pornography on the ‘net, with a blanket block being the default. The thought behind this is that young, innocent eyes would not be confronted by explicit adult content. It would work across the web on computers and phones.

They’ve had adult sites in their sights (see what I did there) for a couple of years so, now that TBP, has been blocked they are obviously hungry for another victim.

I am wondering what the definitions for ‘adult content’ will be and whether websites depicting art would also see censorship being forced upon them. There are sites out there that deal with fetishes which, whilst not being ‘explicit’, may be classed as pornographic by some and not by others.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, plans to meet up with the major internet service providers to discuss the plans. Now, there’s a man of the world if ever there was one 😉

Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman also backs the scheme. “Keeping children safe online is a real problem and a concern for millions of parents,” adding “We need to work closely with the industry to develop blocking technology which is easy to use and effective so that parents have the control they need to protect their children.”

Countering the move is Nick Pickles, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch who warns of the dangers of complete censorship and does not think that a block would be the most effective measure. “Mass blocking of websites was rejected in the US for breaking internet security and in Holland because it doesn’t work and drives criminals underground,” he further stated “As recognised by Ofcom, it is trivial to get around an opt-in blocking system so it would be totally wrong for this to be used as an excuse to spy on all our internet activity..”

I maybe a bit old-school in my thinking but isn’t part of the parent’s role to monitor what little Timmy and Lisa are exposed to? Let’s face it, back in the days where you had to purchase a magazine to get some filth – there were always kids that had access to their Dad’s stash. There was also the mysterious ‘Hedge Porn’ where magazines could be found hidden in hedgerows.

I agree that there should be controls to prevent youngsters getting their mits on naughtiness – but is blanket banning the interwebs the way?

They’ve blocked TBP and now they’re looking at one of the largest industries in the world. What will be next? Will they start checking your harddrives with one of these?