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Porn filters to be on by default for UK ISPs by 2014


Steve

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  • 4 months later...
  • 5 months later...

BT, Sky and Virgin Media are hijacking people's web connections to force customers to make a decision about family-friendly web filters. The move comes as the December deadline imposed by prime minister David Cameron looms, with ISPs struggling to get customers to say yes or no to the controversial adult content blocks.

 

The messages, which vary by ISP, appear during browser sessions when a user tries to access any website. BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media are required to ask all their customers if they want web filters turned on or off, with the government saying it wants to create a "family friendly" internet free from pornography, gambling, extreme violence and other content inappropriate for children. But the measures being taken by ISPs have been described as "completely unnecessary" and "heavy handed" by internet rights groups.

 

The hijacking works by intercepting requests for unencrypted websites and rerouting a user to a different page. ISPs are using the technique to communicate with all undecided customers. Attempting to visit WIRED.co.uk, for example, could result in a user being redirected to a page asking them about web filtering. ISPs cannot intercept requests for encrypted websites in the same way.

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  • 7 months later...

Cameron's next plan is to change the way age gates work on websites. There's a couple of plans being floated around. One is to make the sites themselves change the age gate they use (or add one if they don't have one already), so that you'd have to enter in your credit card or bank account details in order to prove your identity. If sites do not comply with this, they'd be added to the ever-growing block list.

 

Another is to force ISPs to act as gatekeepers, so again, you would enter in your credit card or bank account details in order to get past the age gate, but ISPs would be responsible for maintaining a list of sites that can only be viewed using this method.

 

How wonderful! A list of your shady browsing history tied to your credit card or bank account details. All in the name of "we must think of the children!". Pfffft.

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