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Deutsch: Britische Regierung plant automatisierte Netzfilter für Erwachsenenan...

The UK officials intend to force Internet users to filter out pornography websites starting with the setting out of their accounts.

"I want to fully explore every option that might help make children safer - including whether internet filters should be switched on as the default, so that adult content is blocked unless you decide otherwise," Prime Minister David Cameron said.

In April 2012, an independent Parliamentary inquiry into online child safety included a recommendation that "ISPs should be tasked with rolling out single account network filters for domestic broadband customers that can provide one-click filtering for all devices connected to a home internet connection within 12 months". The inquiry was dismissed by broadband industry lobby group ISPA.

Automatic filtering is one of the solutions proposed in the public discussion paper (Parental Internet Control) recently issued by the Department of Education and available for comments by 10 September 2012. The document suggests three broad options in order to choose the best approach to keeping children safe online.

“We want this questionnaire to give business, and children's and parents' organisations, the opportunity to make clear to government what their views and concerns are and how they see their responsibilities. We want to seek views on how parents and children can become better educated about how to minimise risks when online, but also to hear about the potential for technical solutions, and what can be done to address problems such as cyber-bullying”, says the paper.

One of the options is called "active choice", where new customers are asked whether they want open access to all content with a version called "active choice-plus” that would automatically block adult content, but would give users the possibility to change this in order to have access to sites promoting pornography, violence and other adult-only themes.

The four main internet service providers - BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Sky - already give a choice to their customers whether to apply filters, but the government considers this technology is not entirely efficient.

The consultation document is not however very precise, which most probably will lead to interpretations and inconsistencies. If the government proposed regulation is introduced, ISPs might be forced to automatically block adult sites without any choice for the customer.

"This can of worms pushes censorship technologies and could damage access to perfectly legitimate and innocent websites,” said Jim Killock, Executive Director of the EDRi-member Open Rights Group.

We must not set up network censorship (28.06.2012)
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/press/releases/we-must-not-set-up-netwo...

e-consultation tool: Parental Internet Controls
http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultatio...

Parental Internet controls - public consultation
https://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/consulta...

Automatic bar on net porn considered (28.06.2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18616909

Ministers consult public on 'opt in for smut' plans- Just tick here, sir, in the 'I am a pervert' box (28.06.2012)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/28/public_consultation_internet_s...

EDRi-gram: ENDitorial: Online child protection should not come hand-in-hand with censorship (23.05.2012)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number10.10/online-child-protection-not-c...