BT launched a trial of the technology on 21st June, with the
intention of blocking access for BT internet customers to any web
site named on a blacklist compiled by the Internet Watch Foundation
(IWF).
The UK-based watchdog's blacklist relates to worldwide child
sexual abuse web sites that have been assessed as "illegal to view"
in the UK. It is collated from reports the IWF receives via its
internet hotline and grows by more than 3,000 potentially illegal
child abuse web sites every year.
The system used by BT, known internally as Cleanfeed, works by
blocking requests from subscribers to access the blacklisted sites,
returning an error page instead. BT logs the access request, but no
user details are retained, according to the telco. "BT has no means
of identifying the individuals whose attempts have been blocked,"
according to its statement.
BT revealed yesterday that between 21st June and 13th July it
had blocked 230,000 attempts to access illegal sites. BT points out
that this figure includes repeated attempts by individuals and so
does not represent a total of the number of people trying to gain
access to these sites.
According to the BBC, the IWF declared the results "staggering",
and a police spokesman described the implications as "extremely
disturbing".
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Home Office minister Paul
Goggins said: "Every image of a child that appears on the internet
is an image of a child that's abused." He called the figures
"deeply shocking" and urged other ISPs to take advantage of BT's
offer to allow them use of the technology.
But ISPs are not convinced. Speaking to ZDNet News, AOL UK's
director of communications, Jonathan Lambeth, said that it was easy
for BT to use this type of technology because it only has to deal
with its own network. But other ISPs use a variety of networks, and
would not be able to use Cleanfeed until all of these networks had
adopted the technology.
In addition, said Lambeth, there was the ever-present prospect
of being sued if a legal site was included in the blacklist.
The scheme is also provoking controversy among privacy
advocates, who see Cleanfeed as the first step down the slippery
slope to internet censorship – until now the province of oppressive
regimes such as those in China and Zimbabwe.
Other critics point out that it is easy for porn sites to change
their web address, and thus avoid the blacklist. In addition, porn
accessible through peer-to-peer networks or spam e-mail remains
unchecked.
BT readily admits this:
"BT does not pretend that this trial will offer a total solution
to this problem, or that BT alone could provide such a solution,
but we believe it is an important step in the right direction," the
company said in a statement.
