[LINK] Fwd: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Brits' Failed Heavy Metal Censorship Attempt Disrupts Wikipedia Edits

[David Goldstein]

The "system" in which the Wikipedia page in question was censored is not part of what Conroy is proposing.

The page in question was reported to the Internet Watch Foundation's hotline. The "content
was considered to be a potentially illegal indecent image of a child
under the age of 18, but hosted outside the UK. The IWF does not issue
takedown notices to ISPs or hosting companies outside the UK, but we
did advise one of our partner Hotlines abroad and our law enforcement
partner agency of our assessment. The specific URL (individual webpage)
was then added to the list provided to ISPs and other companies in the
online sector to protect their customers from inadvertent exposure to a
potentially illegal indecent image of a child." See http://iwf.org.uk/media/news.249.htm.

Clean Feed is a separate system developed by BT, using the IWF list.

It is voluntary to be a member of the IWF and it is not compulsory for members to block sites. However the IWF was founded as a response to government pressure to avoid regulation.

A shame the industry in Australia didn't follow the UK lead and we'd probably be avoiding the situation of Conroy's proposals now.

David



----- Original Message ----
From: rene <rene.lk at libertus.net>
To: link at mailman1.anu.edu.au
Sent: Monday, 8 December, 2008 12:24:58 PM
Subject: Re: [LINK] Fwd: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Brits' Failed Heavy Metal Censorship Attempt Disrupts Wikipedia Edits

On Mon, 8 Dec 2008 10:56:31 +1100, Roger Clarke wrote:
[...]
>> Brits' Failed Heavy Metal Censorship Attempt Disrupts Wikipedia Edits
>>
>> http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000478.html
>>
>> Greetings.  Today we're handed yet another in a veritable cornucopia
>> of examples showing why attempts to censor the Internet may disrupt
>> and hassle, but can't really effectively block anything, and
>> frequently have exactly the opposite of the intended effect.

And this UK 'system' is the one Senator Conroy keeps claiming proves 
Labor's 'plan' for ISP-level blocking is workable, effective, etc.

>> In this case, we learn how a British watchdog group 

The Internet Watch Foundation - an industry group which compiles a 
blacklist that it supplies to UK ISPs. Senator Conroy has said there are 
'plans' to add the content of IWF's blacklist to ACMA's.

>>flagged a
>> Wikipedia article about a heavy metal album -- Scorpions' "Virgin
>> Killer" -- which features a naked prepubescent girl on the cover
>> (partially obscured by a "broken glass" effect).

The page with the (1970s) album cover image and related commentary that UK 
ISPs are (unsuccessfully) attempting to block would likely be classified PG 
by the AU Classification Board, based on the PG and G classifications given 
to the controversial Bill Henson images.

[...]
>> And of course, this action has now generated far more interest in
>> that album cover than would ever have likely otherwise been the case,
>> and naturally that image can be located trivially and virtually
>> instantly as a multitude of copies at any number of image search
>> sites.  It took me less than 15 seconds to find it at a non-Wikipedia
>> source just now. Anyone in Britain can easily do the same thing.

And a look around discussion forums etc shows it's also had the effect of 
publicising various simple ways evade the so-called blocking.

>> Whether or not the image in question is viewed as offensive, the
>> utter stupidity and futility of attempting to block such materials on
>> the Internet has been demonstrated again and again -- and the
>> collateral damage that can be caused by such attempts is made ever
>> more clear.
>>
>> These are technological realities that cannot be effectively changed
>> by political posturing or "magic" filters, regardless of how
>> upsetting we may individually find any particular Internet content to
>> be.  The sooner that we accept this fact, and understand that the
>> traditional mechanisms of top-down content control are no longer
>> relevant in today's world of global communications, the sooner we can
>> move on to dealing with society's real problems in manners that are
>> truly effective, rather than just useless "feel good" flotsam and
>> jetsam.

Indeed.

Irene

_______________________________________________
Link mailing list
Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link



      Start your day with Yahoo!7 and win a Sony Bravia TV. Enter now http://au.docs.yahoo.com/homepageset/?p1=other&p2=au&p3=tagline