UK "Porn filter" to block proxies, anonymizers etc.
theregister.co.uk
theregister.co.uk
1) This is voluntary - but is opt-out.
2) It will be on by default for new users, but not for existing users.
3) Some sites are blocked because court orders require them to be blocked. You cannot opt out of those blocks, although you can access those sites via proxies etc.
HN would be better without articles from the Register.
However, there is a serious point here. This 'filter' is being sold as protecting everyone (expecially the children) by most reporting sources. The Register has done some more in-depth analysis and found that far from simply blocking porn (which some people do want) it blocks additional legitimately use-able systems like proxies and anonimizers which were not mentioned in the original debate and show a distinct 'creep' in the implementation.
It is not clear you can actually use proxies to access blocked IPs as the whole point of the filtering is to stop access to proxies (as well as porn). This is the creep and the point I submitted the article.
I'm not sure what an 'infowar' is (I've not google'd that yet) so I'm not sure if that is a real thing or not. But feature creep and ever increasing control of internet (and hence information) access is real and something which should be discussed and debated much more intelligently and maturely than it is currently being.
> It is not clear you can actually use proxies to access blocked IPs as the whole point of the filtering is to stop access to proxies (as well as porn). This is the creep and the point I submitted the article.
Exactly the confusion I mean. Some proxies are blocked by court order. This is different to the porn filter. You can't opt out of court-ordered filters. (You could use one of the ISPs that aren't caught by the court orders - I think only 5 ISPs have to implement the court ordered filters).
Complaining about the government mandated porn-filter when it's not doing what you're complaining about is sub-optimal.
> But feature creep
There is no feature creep. These are different things. They're just happening at the same time.
Constitutions can also be a trap and a drag on social progress, such as the Irish constitution's deeply embedded abortion ban.
Having said that we do see such freedoms being eroded (particularly over the last 20 years) by the "something must be done" style of legislation that now seeks in curb activities that are disapproved of by the establishment.
But the fact that the UK is beginning to introduce opt-out filters is an open declaration of war against the "Internet society", thus the term "infowars".