UK Censorwall
Last week the story broke that David Cameron wants to block certain types of content on the internet. The plan is that each internet user will be contacted by their ISP (Internet Service Provider) and asked if they want certain types of material blocked. The proposed measure will come into force at the end of this year, and it will start by asking new broadband customers if they want their content filtered. At first, at least, this seems like it will be an opt-in service, but there isn’t guarantee that this will remain that way.
Also there is a mention that it will be the responsibility of the ISPs, who, if they fail to restrict content may face fines. This is quite a strong signal from the UK government saying that they want to have a say in what people are allowed to do online.
Issues filtering web-traffic
There are a few potential issues with this proposed bill, include the fact as to the uncertainty as to who will be responsible for deciding whether a website is blocked or not. Categorisation can be subjective, pornogrophy for some may be showing provocative underwear, and for others it might be some showing a breast or nipple. The question as to whether whole domains will be blocked, or just certain pages also remains.
It is a slippery slope once the precent has been set for blocking web traffic ? What happens if other types of ‘information’ are blocked ? This debate reminds us very much like the debate for airport security. The arguments for these measures show extreme cases, which of course the majority of people are against. But in the end, it’s the 99% of the population that will unnecessarily suffer because the government has scare-mongered people into accepting this new type of ‘safety’ measure.
Filtered Category list
One proposed list, from here, includes these topics.
- pornography
- violent material
- extremist and terrorist related content
- anorexia and eating disorder websites
- suicide related websites
- alcohol
- smoking
- web forums
- esoteric material
- web blocking circumvention tools
Blocking smoking information really does sound absurd.
Using a VPN to avoid the Censorwall
In any case it’s quite likely that you will be able to circumvent any blocking of internet traffic by using a VPN. VPN traffic is very hard to decrypt, and for your ISP to detect. We think that it should still be possible to use a VPN to avoid having the government have a say in what you can and cannot do online. Depending how advanced the UK government’s / ISP’s system are, it might be as simple as changing your DNS servers.
