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TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

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Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#21

Post by jiggy2011 »

Why does this have to be done at the ISP level, why can they not just add some software to the free router they send out that adds this functionality?

The only way to bypass that would either be via proxy sites (which could be blocked also) or by changing the router around (which could be done via a voluntary MAC address lock on the modem).

I find that often porn filters cause more problems than they solve. For example I went to do some IT support for a small company in their office, they companied that they were having trouble accessing a whole bunch of sites that they needed for work because they were being blocked.

In the end I just asked the office manager if he though that his staff would be likely to sit around watching porn in the office if I turned it off. Of course that was not a real problem that actually was likely to exist so I just turned it off and improved their IT experience in one go.

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#22

Post by jiggy2011 »

fpp wrote: post #20

So censorship will finally be officially enacted in the UK. Today it's porn or gambling - tomorrow it is the "wrong" political opinion, the wrong colour of skin, the wrong religion or facts the government (or some of its members) want to bury. Looks like they soon will party like it's 1984...

This sounds a little hyperbolic , if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere. Not to mention that it would be far harder to justify than porn.

Also you can opt-out of the filtering.

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#23

Post by DanBC »

fpp wrote: post #20

So censorship will finally be officially enacted in the UK. Today it's porn or gambling - tomorrow it is the "wrong" political opinion, the wrong colour of skin, the wrong religion or facts the government (or some of its members) want to bury. Looks like they soon will party like it's 1984...

You realise it's optional, right? And that the subscriber can ask to have it turned off?

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#24

Post by cabalamat »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #22
fpp wrote: post #20

So censorship will finally be officially enacted in the UK. Today it's porn or gambling - tomorrow it is the "wrong" political opinion, the wrong colour of skin, the wrong religion or facts the government (or some of its members) want to bury. Looks like they soon will party like it's 1984...

This sounds a little hyperbolic , if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere. Not to mention that it would be far harder to justify than porn. Also you can opt-out of the filtering.

> if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere

Maybe. But the German government was recently found to be blocking the website of an opposition political party -- http://falkvinge.net/2012/05/10/three-days-before-elections-...

Germany is a country rather like Britain. If they can do it, it can happen in the UK too.

> Also you can opt-out of the filtering.

For now.

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#25

Post by SagelyGuru »

DanBC wrote: post #23
fpp wrote: post #20

So censorship will finally be officially enacted in the UK. Today it's porn or gambling - tomorrow it is the "wrong" political opinion, the wrong colour of skin, the wrong religion or facts the government (or some of its members) want to bury. Looks like they soon will party like it's 1984...

You realise it's optional, right? And that the subscriber can ask to have it turned off?

First they came for the pedofiles and I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for the pornographers and I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for the gamblers and I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for the muslims and I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for the pirates and I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for Assange and I said nothing because I am not him. Then they came for me and there was no one left to hear me scream.

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#26

Post by fpp »

DanBC wrote: post #23
fpp wrote: post #20

So censorship will finally be officially enacted in the UK. Today it's porn or gambling - tomorrow it is the "wrong" political opinion, the wrong colour of skin, the wrong religion or facts the government (or some of its members) want to bury. Looks like they soon will party like it's 1984...

You realise it's optional, right? And that the subscriber can ask to have it turned off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came

And in the first step - a classic dilemma - how do you know what you can't see when you are blindfolded.

Remember the police man in Denmark earlier this year that "by mistake" blocked the half internet to his country when fiddling with such "blacklists".

Expect lots of "collateral damages" once this will have become mandatory (the next step)

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#27

Post by jiggy2011 »

cabalamat wrote: post #24
jiggy2011 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds a little hyperbolic , if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere. Not to mention that it would be far harder to justify than porn. Also you can opt-out of the filtering.

> if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere Maybe. But the German government was recently found to be blocking the website of an opposition political party -- http://falkvinge.net/2012/05/10/three-days-before-elections-... Germany is a country rather like Britain. If they can do it, it can happen in the UK too. > Also you…

I find it very difficult to believe that they would say that nobody in the UK is allowed to look at porn or gambling online. Even in they could get that past the european court of human rights, what would be in it for them to do so?

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#28

Post by desas »

SagelyGuru wrote: post #4

I remember when filters first appeared and UK secondary schools were forced to employ them. The filters work(ed) by filtering out anything on the www that contains so called offensive words, such as sex in particular. Following this, the universities of Essex and Sussex suffered a mysterious but nevertheless catastrophic drop in applications, as their websites became invisible to secondary school applicants and nobod…

Also known as the Scunthorpe problem

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#29

Post by cabalamat »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #27
cabalamat wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if the UK govt decided to block competing political parties websites I'm sure they would fall foul of some law or court decision somewhere Maybe. But the German government was recently found to be blocking the website of an opposition political party -- http://falkvinge.net/2012/05/10/three-days-before-elections-... Germany is a country rather like Britain. If they can do it, it can happen in the UK too. > Also you…

I find it very difficult to believe that they would say that nobody in the UK is allowed to look at porn or gambling online. Even in they could get that past the european court of human rights, what would be in it for them to do so?

> what would be in it for them to do so?

There are a lot of prudes in the UK, partilularly amoung older people (who are more likely to vote) and Tory supporters (and Cameron needs to give something to his critics in his own party right now, as his position is weak).

Re: TalkTalk (British ISP) rolls out porn filter

#30

Post by DanBC »

fpp wrote: post #26
DanBC wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise it's optional, right? And that the subscriber can ask to have it turned off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came And in the first step - a classic dilemma - how do you know what you can't see when you are blindfolded. Remember the police man in Denmark earlier this year that "by mistake" blocked the half internet to his country when fiddling with such "blacklists". Expect lots of "collateral damages" once this will have become mandatory (the next step)

> And in the first step - a classic dilemma - how do you know what you can't see when you are blindfolded.

Because there are so many sites blocked, and it comes with a fucking huge page saying something like "CONTENT LOCK CONTACT YOUR PROVIDER TO HAVE THIS TURNED OFF".

> Remember the police man in Denmark earlier this year that "by mistake" blocked the half internet to his country when fiddling with such "blacklists".

These are voluntary optional blacklists.

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