[wtracz]

This has already happened.

The Internet Watch Foundation already tell ISPs to block child pornography, and the court system can tell ISPs to block file-sharing/streaming sites.

It is a myth that the internet is uncensored in the UK at the moment.

[Silhouette]

Both distributing child pornography and distributing content in violation of copyright are explicitly against the law. Distributing "normal" porn is not. I think there is a qualitative difference between attempting to prevent illegal activity and attempting to prevent legal activity that some vague authority out of the public eye just doesn't like, and I'm not sure it's helpful to equate the two cases in a debate like this.

[MildlySerious]

The thing is, you can't just censor it away until it's gone. It doesn't fight the root of the cause and in the long run will only hurt the society as a whole.

We all know that it doesn't matter how illegal something is; if it can be found, the person looking for it will find it. That's especially true for the internet. Obstacles always bear the chance of making it worse for the wrong people.

[DanBC]

> and attempting to prevent legal activity that some vague authority out of the public eye just doesn't like, and I'm not sure it's helpful to equate the two cases in a debate like this.

...and that's why the IWF / court ordered filters are not optional, while the 'porn filter' is.

[h2s]

That's correct, but we should still not allow them to misdirect our attention while they tighten the screws.

[dingaling]

The Internet Watch Foundation can't tell anyone to do anything. It's just a private company based in Cambridge:

Company No. 03426366 Status: Active Date of Incorporation: 29/08/1997

Some organisations ( fewer than 100 ) have entered into voluntary commercial contracts with the IWF that oblige them to self-implement the list provided by the IWF.

[makomk]

They're "voluntary" in the sense that the Government told them to voluntarily filter internet access according to the IWF list, or the Government would pass a law forcing them to do so and it'd be a lot worse for them than just playing along.

[lmm]

Voluntary? I thought it was required. Are there ISPs that don't?