Govt sets target for blocking child porn sites

Found on The Register on Wednesday, 17 May 2006
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The government has given internet service providers until 2008 to block all access to websites containing illegal images of child abuse listed by the Internet Watch Foundation.

The industry-funded IWF had already seen a drastic drop in the number of illegal sites reported to be hosted in the UK, from 18 per cent in 1997 to 0.4 per cent in 2005.

New ISPs would be given nine months before they had to comply, he said, but, "If it appears that we are not going to meet our target through co-operation, we will review the options for stopping UK residents accessing websites on the IWF list. Linx Public Affairs, an Internet law news service, noted that the technology used to block news sites displaying child pornography could easily be turned to other uses.

The Home Office had admitted that it had considered blocking websites that "glorified terrorism" under the Terrorism Act (2006). It said it was not policy to require ISPs to block content, but added: "our legislation as drafted provides the flexibility to accomodate a change in Government policy should the need ever arise ."

I'm so sure that paedophiles will never ever use proxy networks or other safer ways of trading their data. While the initial reason is welcomed, this would also open the doors to all sorts of future censoring, as already said in the article.