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TalkTalk warms to porn ban call as ISPs tell minister they offer filters
21 Dec 2010 | 10.26 Europe/London
UK Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey, has announced plans to discuss, in the ‘near future’, ways in which ISPs can voluntarily block pornographic sites. His stated intended aim is to prevent children being exposed to adult material.
It will not be the first time the issue has arisen but it does at least appear this time that the minister in charge does have the support of at least one ISP. It could be a pr move to garner public opinion but TalkTalk’s Andrew Heaney, who is in charge of regulation at the ISP, has given the government his blessing and even suggested, to the Guardian newspaper, that if other ISPs are not forthcoming in support, measures should be forced upon them.
However, the country’s major ISPs have publicly pointed out they already block illegal pornographic sites and offer parental filters.
Nevertheless, the debate will no doubt shine a light on how ISPs are relatively restricted in what they can do, perhaps offering subscribers the option to block a black list of sites or, at the very least, offer or improve parental controls to improve the chances of children being exposed to adult material.
The New Year, then, is likely to see plenty of debate around freedom of speech and the right to access content which is not illegal for those aged 18 or over.
Expect to see plenty of relaunches of parental filters by ISPs to demonstrate they are taking their responsibility seriously, and likewise for ‘safe search’ features. Google and Bing already offer filters, as does video search engine Blinkx.
It will not be the first time the issue has arisen but it does at least appear this time that the minister in charge does have the support of at least one ISP. It could be a pr move to garner public opinion but TalkTalk’s Andrew Heaney, who is in charge of regulation at the ISP, has given the government his blessing and even suggested, to the Guardian newspaper, that if other ISPs are not forthcoming in support, measures should be forced upon them.
However, the country’s major ISPs have publicly pointed out they already block illegal pornographic sites and offer parental filters.
Nevertheless, the debate will no doubt shine a light on how ISPs are relatively restricted in what they can do, perhaps offering subscribers the option to block a black list of sites or, at the very least, offer or improve parental controls to improve the chances of children being exposed to adult material.
The New Year, then, is likely to see plenty of debate around freedom of speech and the right to access content which is not illegal for those aged 18 or over.
Expect to see plenty of relaunches of parental filters by ISPs to demonstrate they are taking their responsibility seriously, and likewise for ‘safe search’ features. Google and Bing already offer filters, as does video search engine Blinkx.