The Great Firewall of China the UK?

Posted on 12/8/2008 by Younghusband

Once again the Internet throws a spanner in the works for 20th century, nation-based legal frameworks.

“*UK ISPs Filtering Access to Wikipedia*”:http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/uk_isps_filtering_access_to_wi.php
ZDNet is reporting that six British ISPs are filtering access to Wikipedia as a result of the site being added to the Internet Watch Foundation after accusations that it is hosting what some consider child pornography.

The filtered content involves the controversial 1970s record album cover from the German band Scorpions that features a naked prepubescent girl. The album, Virgin Killer, was banned in many countries when it was released until a replacement cover was created.

Unfortunately the filter has some “side-effects”:http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10009938o-2000331777b,00.htm. Besides not being able to see filtered content, all user traffic is given a single IP address per proxy. Since Wikipedia blocks vandals by IP address, if one person is blocked, everyone on that ISP is blocked. If one person on each of the six ISP’s are blocked, everyone in Britain (except those using “BT”:http://www.bt.com apparently) will be unable to contribute to Wikipedia. Users are getting the following message when attempting to edit:

bq. “Wikipedia has been added to a Internet Watch Foundation UK website blacklist, and your Internet service provider has decided to block part of your access. Unfortunately, this also makes it impossible for us to differentiate between different users, and block those abusing the site without blocking other innocent people as well.”

Registered users are still able to edit.

Censorship laws are always tricky and usually end up restricting all sorts of benign activity. The universality of the Internet and its refusal to comply with the boundaries and laws of sovereign states only compounds the problem. I think the spectacular utility of the Internet should trump all prudish laws of censorship.

_Related:_ “Map of Internet censorship”:http://cominganarchy.com/2006/05/06/internet-in-the-media-round-up/?preview=true&preview_id=1849&preview_nonce=a66e798da9 from _The Atlantic_.

About Younghusband

Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (1863-1942) was a British explorer, army officer, military-political officer, and foreign correspondent born in India who led expeditions into Manchuria, Kashgar, and Tibet. He three times tried and failed to scale Mt. Everest and journeyed from China to India, crossing the Gobi desert and the Mustagh Pass (alt. c.19,000 ft/5,791 m) of the Karakoram mountain range in modern day Pakistan. Convinced of Russian designs on British interests in India, Younghusband proactively engaged in the nineteenth century spying and conflict over Central Asia between the British and the Russians known as the Great Game. "Younghusband" is a Canadian who has spent a number of years bouncing back and forth between his home country and Japan. Fluent in Japanese and English with experience in numerous other languages from Spanish to Georgian, Younghusband has travelled throughout Asia. He graduated with an MA from the War Studies Department at the Royal Military College of Canada, where he focussed on the Japanese oil industry and energy security issues. He has recently returned to Canada from Japan, and is working in the technology sector.
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4 Responses to The Great Firewall of China the UK?

  1. Psudo says:
    12/8/2008 at 7:01 am

    Which laws of censorship are prudish and which are reasonable?

  2. Younghusband says:
    12/8/2008 at 8:02 am

    That has been a central argument in philosophy since ancient times. Though I think that a law the limits one of the greatest resources of human knowledge over a “piece of art”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer#Internet_censorship qualifies as unreasonable.

  3. Alexandru says:
    12/9/2008 at 4:28 am

    The idea that a photograph, especially in that context, prompts people to become pedophiles is retarded. And I mean retarded in the technical sense: it just doesn’t stand up to adult reasoning standards and can only appease (or offend) childish sensibilities.

    Ironically enough for the album, it seems that Time isn’t a “virgin killer” for everyone, at least in regard to certain people’s naivete.

  4. Younghusband says:
    12/10/2008 at 2:31 pm

    “IWF backs down on Wiki censorship”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7774102.stm

    “IWF’s overriding objective is to minimise the availability of indecent images of children on the internet, however, on this occasion our efforts have had the opposite effect. We regret the unintended consequences for Wikipedia and its users.”