Pretending To Eliminate Porn In The UK

from the nice-try-there dept

Tue, Jun 6th 2006 12:47am — Mike Masnick

MR writes "people.co.uk tells us of a proposed bill that would crack down on Child Pornography in the UK. J. Morris of The People says "The filth would be BLOCKED from ever reaching a computer screen - potentially wiping out the evil practice in Britain." The bill orders that all ISP's install filters or other devices to prevent users from accessing child pornography. however, they seem to ignore all the places these filters have failed, such as school and library filtering required by CIPA. Of course, CIPA may soon require that libraries block MySpace and Blogs as well, so I don't think anyone is taking it seriously anymore." The article also fails to mention the collateral damage of such programs in other places (such as blocking perfectly legitimate content on a shared server) or questions about what actually qualifies to be blocked. It's certainly an admirable goal to stop child porn, but the efforts should be focused on stopping those responsible, not putting in place ineffective bans.

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17 Comments

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fuzzix, 6 Jun 2006 @ 2:12am

The attitude isn't surprising, though. To me it's akin to prosecuting heroin addicts, treating the symptoms (poorly) rather than the cause. I occasionally get the feeling that your average legislator is less concerned with solving problems than simply making them less visible.

It's just too difficult to go after the big boys. People are just as happy if you squander resources on arresting people on the streets - a visible presence rather than an effective one.
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Doctor Creek, 6 Jun 2006 @ 2:19am

4Chan.org SHoudl be blocked.
But not Myspace Or Blogs? This is like Saying were going ot Block web 2.0 if they even knew what that was. It's a sure sign that the people in chagre know bugger all about what they are in charge of. They Should all have geek advisors. To show them what is what. I'd Sign up. :D
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dorpus, 6 Jun 2006 @ 2:36am

Rule of Law
Increasingly, child porn is being produced in countries where there is no rule of law or extradition treaties. It's easy to talk about stopping child porn at the source, but how do Western countries go after child porn producers in Russia, Tuvalu, or Afghanistan?
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W. B. Harding, 6 Jun 2006 @ 6:19am

Re: less visible
Legislators like to be seen *addressing* the problem; if the problem is solved they're no longer seen, and being seen doing "something" is lifeblood for politicos.
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Wolfger, 6 Jun 2006 @ 6:34am

Not "how"...
how do Western countries go after child porn producers in Russia, Tuvalu, or Afghanistan?

Wrong question.
Why should Western countries go after child porn producers in Russia, Tuvalu, or Afghanistan?
Let other countries police their own people in accordance to their own laws. The American mindframe that our way is the one "true" way, that our morality is "the" morality, is little better than al Queda's belief that *their* way and morality is the one true way.
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Justin, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:14am

RE: Not how"
Wrong question.
Why should Western countries go after child porn producers in Russia, Tuvalu, or Afghanistan?

Sadly you are right, that is the wrong question. The question should be why can't we just send in the CIA to shoot those fukers in the head.
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Shocked, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:25am

R U Insane
Though in theory I agree that countries should handle there own legal issues, I also believe that there are crimes that have no boundries, child pornography being one of them. Especially since we can't stop it from being on the internet here.

Your an idiot Wolfger, if you believe the crap your spouting please feel free to go live in Afghanistan.
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Anonymous Right-Wing Fundamentalist, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:31am

Re: Not
The American mindframe that our way is the one "true" way, that our morality is "the" morality, is little better than al Queda's belief that *their* way and morality is the one true way.

I must disagree. Even laying aside the religious affiliations and their implications, there is such a thing as "right" and "wrong". Children and adults alike know that taking a toy from others is wrong, breaking in line isn't fair, etc.

Usually we know this more deeply when we are the one who was wronged, and it takes some maturing to see the problem from the other perspective, instead of a "might makes right" approach. But the assertion that there is no real, substantial difference between Al Qaeda and the USA is patently absurd.

For examples, we need to look no further than the conditions for women in the respective ideologies, but you could add freedoms of speech, worship, assembly, and a host of others that would never survive in a true Caliphate. Bottom line: Our "morality" IS better than theirs. Any objective person with a synapse that fires even occasionally will see that.
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eb, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:34am

Re: R U Insane
Where has this truly obscene mindset that says "anyone who doesn't agree with me should go live in another country" come from? What ever happened to "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it"?
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Shocked, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:47am

Re: Re: R U Insane
I do believe in anyones right to say anything, I love and will fight for our freedom to do so. If however, wolfger actually believes there is little difference between the idiologies of the US and Al qaeda then it would seem he would fit in better there.
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Shocked, 6 Jun 2006 @ 7:47am

Re: Re: R U Insane
I do believe in anyones right to say anything, I love and will fight for our freedom to do so. If however, wolfger actually believes there is little difference between the idiologies of the US and Al qaeda then it would seem he would fit in better there.
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ebrke, 6 Jun 2006 @ 8:01am

Re: Re: Re: R U Insane
Perhaps "fitting in" is not a priority in his life.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jun 2006 @ 8:06am

same beliefs
I believe that his point was that there are differences between our beliefs and Al Quaeda's, but we both like trying to force them on other people.
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joe stacey, 6 Jun 2006 @ 8:21am

Re: same beliefs
thank god America has heaven on its side!!

If Jesus were alive today, he'd be an American!! and he'd live in the suburbs! and he'd drive an SUV!

and he'd be a football fan! and he'd watch Disney films! and listen to modern country!!!

because Jesus knows that WE'RE right.. and those middle easterners are all wrong...
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Rikko, 6 Jun 2006 @ 9:11am

Re: Re: Not
I must disagree. Even laying aside the religious affiliations and their implications, there is such a thing as "right" and "wrong". Children and adults alike know that taking a toy from others is wrong, breaking in line isn't fair, etc.

Ever left North America? Clearly not. Your artificial "universal" principles are noble until you need to wave a passport to enter another culture.

Bottom line: Our "morality" IS better than theirs.

The reason the USA is hated and at war is because there are enough ignorant people who actually believe statements like that.
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joe stacey, 6 Jun 2006 @ 9:27am

Re: Re: Re: Not
right on. so many Americans will say "This is the best country in the world!" when they've never even seen another country before...
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Fima Fimovich, 13 Jul 2006 @ 1:08pm

example
I am political refugee on human rights violations from Soviet Union
I would like to send you some links to publications about my criminal
case. I was forced to confess to the
possession of child porn. My browser was hijacked while I was browsing
the web. I was redirected to illegal sites against my will. Some
illegal pictures were found on my hard drive, recovering in
unallocated clusters, without dates of file creation/download.

I do not know how courts can widely press these charges on people to
convict them, while the whole Internet is a mess.

This is my story in inquisition21.com. There is all
information about case written by Irish writer Brian
Rothery.

http://www.inquisition21.com/article~view~7~page_num~3.html

This is publication in Wired news

http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,63391,00.html

This is publication in Theregester

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/13/browser_hijacking_risks/

Article in Globe and Mail newspaper
http://ctv.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040617.gttwhijac17/tech/Technology/t echBN/ctv-technology

Article in ZDnet
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5344831.html

This is article in Washington Times, May 22, 2004
There is information about my case.

http://www.cato.org/cgi-bin/scripts/printtech.cgi/dailys/05-30-04.html

Article in Crime research center:

http://www.crime-research.org/news/07.22.2004/506/

Article in Dallas, TX Newspaper

http://www.crime-research.org/news/24.12.2004/862/

Child porn law was declared unconstitutional in Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA'
http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=11750

"I came here to the US as political refugee from the former Soviet
Union, and, now like many other people in the US, I feel shame that
all of this can happen in the US – supposed to be the greatest
democracy in the world."
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