[freenet-chat] IWF "Cleanfeed" ISP-level censoring legitimate sites from UK users

Fri Jun 23 17:41:43 UTC 2006

Ugh. I'm going to have to write to my MP about that...

On Fri, Jun 23, 2006 at 04:05:31PM +0100, Bob wrote:
> --- Matthew Toseland <toad at amphibian.dyndns.org> wrote:
> 
> > Wait till they start getting court orders from the Church of
> > Scientology! You can block this illegal content; you block this other
> > illegal content, therefore you must block all illegal content and in
> > particular you must block copyright infringing, libellous, state
> > secret
> > (look at the d-notices site that had to move outside the UK), and so
> > on
> > sites. Slippery slope: the road to hell is paved with good (and
> > uninformed) intentions.
> 
> Indeed, they don't seem too concerned about retaining their 'common
> carrier' status for some reason do they?
> 
> Although the IWF is nominally an industry group, its existence and
> policy appear to be very much driven by the Home Office - i.e. "filter
> yourselves or we'll legislate it." Consider the implications of this
> Commons answer from last Monday (19th June 2006) :
> 
> http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060619/debtext/60619-0540.htm#column_1052
> 
> "I have recently set the UK internet industry a target to ensure that
> by the end of 2007, all internet service providers offering broadband
> internet connectivity to the UK public prevent their customers from
> accessing those websites" (...) "We expect 90 per cent. of internet
> service providers to have blocked access to sites abroad by the end of
> 2006. The target is that by the end of 2007 that will be 100 per cent.
> We believe that working with the industry offers us the best way
> forward, but we will keep that under review if it looks likely that the
> targets will not be met."
> 
> In other words, it would appear that secret, known-to-be-fallible and
> largely unaccountable internet censorship is going to become
> *compulsory* for all UK 'broadband' access, either psudeo-"voluntarily"
> or via legislation as formal state internet censorship. In either case
> the end result is much the same of course, and the potential for
> slippery-slope extension very real, particularly given this
> government's poor track record on civil liberties.
> 
> 
> > On Mon, Jun 19, 2006 at 01:19:13AM +0100, Bob wrote:
> > > You may have heard of the UK's "Internet Watch Foundation", a jolly
> > UK
> > > ISP industry group that operates "Cleanfeed". This is a UK internet
> > > censorship system that blocks arbitrary sites at ISP level by
> > returning
> > > fake errors (404 etc), much like China's great firewall. Their
> > blocking
> > > database is secret; it's unobtainable unless you're an ISP and pay
> > to
> > > subscribe to them, which requires signing a legally binding NDA.
> > Major
> > > UK ISPs such as BT and NTL use Cleanfeed. As a private industry
> > group
> > > they are essentially unaccountable.
> > > 
> > > They claim that their database is for blocking "child abuse
> > websites"
> > > only :
> > > http://www.iwf.org.uk/media/news.archive-2004.39.htm
> > > 
> > > However, it appears they have now blocked 4chan.org's "/b/ -
> > Random"
> > > imageboard :
> > > http://img.4chan.org/b/imgboard.html
> > > It must be admitted that /b/ is psuedononymous, anarchic and
> > populated
> > > mostly by stupid memes, trolling and deliberately tasteless /
> > offensive
> > > content. In many ways /b/ is a giant deliberately stupid in-joke
> > not
> > > meant to be taken seriously, aside from an occassional thread where
> > > people use /b/'s anonymity to ask questions about private matters
> > they
> > > feel they cannot discuss elsewhere.
> > > 
> > > In any case, /b/ is most definetely a legitimate and legal forum
> > which
> > > has been running for years, is moderated, and is in full compliance
> > > with United States law since that's where it's hosted.
> > > (4chan itself is essentially a western clone of the Japanese
> > 2ch.net /
> > > 2chan.net, amongst the most popular sites in Japan. 4chan is
> > therefore
> > > very well known by anime fans etc.)
> > > 
> > > It seems that the IWF have blocked /b/ on the basis that it is a
> > child
> > > porn site. This is clearly not the case. Yes, *very occasionally*
> > some
> > > moron posts CP  on /b/ ... which typically lasts about 30 seconds
> > > before it's deleted and they're permabanned. 4chan is no different
> > from
> > > any other public forum which allows image posting in this regard,
> > it
> > > does not condone such activity and obviously if there was any
> > evidence
> > > that it did the US authorities would shut it down instantly.
> > > 
> > > At present the blocking, which is being done by URL, is not very
> > well
> > > implemented and there are ways around it. Furthermore not all UK
> > ISPs
> > > use Cleanfeed ... yet. However, I hope you will agree that it is
> > very
> > > worrying that legitimate internet forums appear to be being
> > censored in
> > > the UK secretly and pretty much unaccountably *right now*. I have
> > to
> > > wonder how long it will be before our authoritarian government
> > decides
> > > we should "standardise" on this "industry best-practice" for its
> > own
> > > ends.
> > > 
> > > Further references :
> > > http://dis.4chan.org/read.php/newpol/1150560346/1-40
> > > http://dis.4chan.org/read.php/img/1149953763/1-40
> > > http://www.4chan.org/banned.php  <-- some BT users redirected here
> > > 
> > > I suppose all this at least serves as inspiration to continue work
> > on
> > > freenet :(
> > > 
> > > Bob
> 
> 
> 		
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-- 
Matthew J Toseland - toad at amphibian.dyndns.org
Freenet Project Official Codemonkey - http://freenetproject.org/
ICTHUS - Nothing is impossible. Our Boss says so.
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