On the 7 February 2011, Ed Vaizey MP, the Minister for Culture will be meeting the major British Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to discuss the potential of voluntary, ‘opt-in’ filters that would remove pornography from users’ content at the ISP level. There has been growing demand for this service which would provide parents with a powerful, probably most effective, means of monitoring and controlling what comes into the home. It is proposed that the ISP level filters would:
- Be Voluntary so that people can turn it on or off at will.
- Be Comprehensive while it is recognized that no system will ever be 100% effective.
- Be Dynamic learning and catching more adult content to over time.
- Be Flexible allowing account holders to turn off and on, even set ‘watershed times’ if required and potentially have specific URL and domain management.
- Protect Better than current PC filters, which are easily worked around, both from exposure to pornography and the malware that often comes from these sites.
- Cover New Devices such as web-enabled TVs, blu-ray players, games consoles etc which can not currently be protected in another way.
Support for this Urgently Needed NOW – If you would like to see these voluntary filters become a reality, then you can help by doing the following things:
- Send an Email to Ed Vaizey either copy the Ed Vaizey ISP Filter Email text below and emailing it vaizeye@parliament.uk or click on this Send Email to Ed Vaizey link which will open the email in Outlook with all the info put in there, you just need to add your name etc to the bottom)
- Send an Email to Your MP by simply copying the MP ISP Filter Email text below and emailing to your MP, which you can find on http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
- Contact your Councilor using a variation of the MP ISP Filer Email, pointing out the benefit to protecting schools, libraries, youth centre etc.
- Support Family Safe ISP on FaceBook by visiting the Family Safe ISP FaceBook page, ‘Like’ it and then share with friends.
- Contact Your ISP and ask them to introduce ISP-level filtering. Suggest you may move to another provider that does so.
- Donate to Safermedia, who are spearheading a campaign for this (you can contact them on office@safermedia.org) or through the Safermedia Facebook page.
- Spread the Message, link to this blog, tweet this blog, tell you friends, write to your local paper, inform your church/mosque etc, spread the word.
Ed Vaizey ISP Filter Email Copy and amend as required:
Dear Mr Vaizey,
Thank you for your efforts in arranging a meeting with internet service providers to discuss how the industry can better support parents and help them ensure that their children cannot access pornography.
Research clearly indicates that viewing pornography leads to an acceptance of violent and unhealthy notions of sex and relationships, where the objectification of women and aggressive sexual behaviour are the norm.
That is why I strongly support your initiative, suggested by Claire Perry MP, to switch the default setting for internet pornography into our homes to ‘off’, and implement an ‘opt-in’ system. I urge you to promote it as robustly as possible at your forthcoming roundtable with the ISPs in February.
Yours sincerely,
Name:
Address:
Organisation (if appropriate):
MP ISP Filter Email Copy and amend as required:
Dear [INSERT MP NAME],
As you may be aware, on the 7 February 2011, Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture is meeting with internet service providers to discuss how the industry can better support parents and help them ensure that their children cannot access pornography.
Research clearly indicates that viewing pornography leads to an acceptance of violent and unhealthy notions of sex and relationships, where the objectification of women and aggressive sexual behaviour are the norm.
I urge you to lend your support to this initiative, suggested by Claire Perry MP, to switch the default setting for internet pornography into our homes to ‘off’, and implement an ‘opt-in’ system. I urge you to promote it as robustly as possible within parliament and support any legislation as may be required to provide us with this most useful tool to protect our homes and children should the ISPs be unwilling to implement such filters otherwise.
Yours sincerely,
Name:
Address:
Organisation (if appropriate):
Support for those Struggling – Anyone who struggles with pornography may be able to find help through the following sources:
- Sex Addicts Anonymous (UK) – who offer 12 step programmes similar to AA in format.
- Living Waters – Christian ministry offering support in this and other areas.
- Through the Flame – offering online support to strugglers and their partners.
- Quit Porn Addiction – online community, forum and advice for strugglers.
- Send an email to Ed Vaizey by simply copying the Ed Vaizey ISP Filter Email text below and emailing it to vaizeye@parliament.uk
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Tags: addiction, campaign, family safe isp, help, isp, isp filter, porn, pornography, safermedia
In 80 Clicks 
February 2, 2011 at 9:01 pm |
I strongly agree with the Anti-porn campaign. Please take remedial action to save our children and future. We are about to enter the state of sodom and gomorah.
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February 4, 2011 at 3:32 pm |
It is about time something was done to protect our children and young vulnerable adults. Please don’t just talk about it, put words into action before it is too late.
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February 4, 2011 at 3:48 pm |
Do you have a suggestion as to how this could be implemented without huge ramifications on privacy, and a fundamental change in both technology and the relationship that a customer has with their isp? I can’t. If such technology is implemented it will be too easy for the govt to suggest using it to find evidence of ‘hate speech’ let parents take responsibility for their children’s safety, don’t ask the govt to do it!
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February 4, 2011 at 3:55 pm |
I guess this will be through the same kind of legislation as now applies to getting hold of phone records, or your current web history in the case of child sex abuse cases, searching properties and appropriating computers for evidence that currently exists. I can not see that this significantly changes the relationship between ISP and customer, in fact it just adds another layer of consumer power and control.
The point is we are *not* asking the government to do it, just asking that we are given the best tools for the job by the ISP, which, for reasons laid out here, the ISP-level filter is.
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February 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm
This is not the best tool for the job though. At the moment an ISP is essentially a middleman who provides a link between your device at home and another device on the internet.
Phone records and web history are obtained after the fact, but what’s proposed appears to be proactive, ie My computer requests content and between it making the request and receiving a reply it is either permitted by my ISP or denied.
Would you envisage this being done at the domain level, or per page? would it be determined by the page I request, or by the content in the response.
There is quite simply no way to do this which is in any way going to stop an inquisitive 14 year old boy.
To the extent that something like this is possible, the best point to do this is at the broadband router. If you change your dns settings to use OpenDNS you can set content restrictions very easily.
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February 7, 2011 at 4:06 pm
If this can be done at the router, then I do not see why it can not be done by the ISP. Additionally, to provide best effect, if they put in a reporting procedure then this also is the best way of helping catch new url’s or domains as they are created, and helping the system learn what is not actual pornography but discussion etc about the subject.
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February 7, 2011 at 1:17 pm |
[…] Read about it here. […]
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February 8, 2011 at 7:48 pm |
This is such a bad idea, on so many levels.
First, you are trusting technology to make a judgement about a complex human subject. Not only would this trap false positives, but also false negatives – so some ‘bad’ content would escape the filters so the filters are then adjusted to catch more content, more false positives etc etc. The best tool for content filtering is parents, not machines. Filters do not work – they avoid the problem.
Secondly, this is censorship – plain and simple. You are proposing that ALL content be subjected these filters and once in place their use will be extended. Capturing kiddie porn, fine. Capture ordinary porn, oh. Capturing terrorist content, ok. Capturing extreme political view, um. Capturing radial politics, oh dear…. You can see what will happen.
Thirdly – a matter of principal. The internet is an important tool of democracy that needs to be free from state tampering. I strongly support a free and open internet.
Yes, there’s bad content out there, that’s what patents are there for – education and guidance. Lazy parents should not rely on ineffective technologies.
So please write to My Vaizey and tell him to stop this nonsense at once.
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February 10, 2011 at 9:40 am |
I very much support this project.
The damage being done is for all to see and we will all suffer the consequences
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February 11, 2011 at 12:33 pm |
The problem is that you (and the responders to the poll) are saying “yes, it would be good to have a system which did x and y and z.”
That’s all well and good. I’d vote for a system which did that too, if it weren’t for a couple of issues…
1st, Is any system that can be implemented going to achieve the stated goal?
2nd, Is any system that can be implemented going to stop when it achieves that goal.
For the 1st question, at what point do you suggest a block is made? Here are some options:
a) at the domain level when a request is made.
b) at the page/image level when a request is made.
c) at the point that the content is being transmitted back from the server.
b and c are so easy to get around using an encrypted connection that it’s not really worth considering them, unless you want your ISP to be able to un-encrypt all your traffic, which throws online banking out of the window.
a) is like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. It will do the job but cause an unnecessary amount of damage in the process, with domains being added to the blacklist on the basis of one image. You’d have to block Google!
I don’t say that this plan is bad for no reason. The only voices I’ve heard in favour have been not technically minded. I think that there is a reason for this.
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February 20, 2011 at 6:32 am |
Glad to see pornography FINALLY being questioned
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May 5, 2011 at 2:26 pm |
I concur with PeterB. Please also consider that while mobile phones, being a per-user device, individually authenticated, can be blocked or unblocked individually… the restrictions were far too broad. the risk is the same or greater with fixed-line.
Also consider that the endpoint is *shared*, being that a fixed broadband connection is not authenticated per-user. Also – in order to sign up to a broadband contract, you need to be over 18. What would be a better idea is for greater granularity of content-filtering to be offered so the account holder could enable or disable the relevant subject matter accordingly.
I envisage maybe 3 types of connection…
Family (with different capacities – maybe)
Home
Business
… all types of account to be made available to everyone
I am on Business Silver with my ISP – I would not expect to see that type of account restricted on content.
Family accounts – could be the family-friendly ones, where the traffic would go through proxy servers – and content-filtering could be applied. But I am envisaging BlueCoat-type granularity rather than “under 18/over 18”. One other option might be forcing traffic through a proxy server – and the connection’s admin (typically a parent) could be offered user accounts for their family – with web-based admin of their content filtering. In any case… Maybe a subset of…
Home – Most domestic-type accounts – proxy-server access is optional.
Maybe offer a web-based interface where the “under 18” and “over 18” settings are simply a group of content-types. They can then be tightend up or loosened as required.
Business-grade… leave well alone.
I remember how incensed I was when O2 applied filtering without any warning – and my contract is with Carphone Warehouse. I was on the phone with them for a day releasing it… as I am 40.
For example – beerintheevening or gastropub menus were blocked off as the info was “over 18”. That’s right. Restaurant reviews.
What health info would be blocked inadvertently?
Education and advice is a better idea for shared connections – which all fixed-line broadband services are.
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