Wikipedia page censored in the UK for 'child pornography'
Jenny | 08.12.2008 23:20
The Internet Watch Foundation has propelled the UK into the forefront of the Internet censorship debate by blacklisting an image on Wikipedia as "a potentially illegal indecent image of a child under the age of 18." You may already have this one. It's a 1976 Scorpions album cover….
Wikinews has learned that at least six of the United Kingdom's main Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have implemented monitoring and filtering mechanisms that are causing major problems for UK contributors on websites operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, amongst up to 1200 other websites. The filters appear to be applied because Wikimedia sites are hosting a Scorpions album cover which some call child pornography. The Scorpions are a German rock band who have used several controversial album covers and are perhaps best known for their song, "Rock You Like a Hurricane".
The story says that the "major UK ISPs" are thought to be O2/Be Unlimited, Virgin Media, Easynet, Plusnet, Demon, and Opal Telecommunications (TalkTalk).
The blocking has been prompted by the UK's Internet Watch Foundation.
The Scorpions album was released in 1976, so it's amazing to think that civilisation has managed to survive for more than 30 years [corrected], in spite of this evil in our midst.
The IWF has not acted against Amazon.com or other sites that carry images of the original album cover (which has apparently been replaced by something much uglier), such as Google. Also, there are several other album covers to censor, not to mention paintings, books, movies and Shakespeare plays. Presumably it's just a matter of time….
It should be noted that the cover in question is no stranger to controversy, and its use on Wikipedia has been under debate for some time. Gawker ran the story, Wikipedia Is Arguing Whether This Album Cover Is Child Porn, seven months ago, on May 9. But I didn't notice any American ISP's blocking access to Wikipedia.
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Paged Blocked below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer
If your ISP is blocking it you should get a page not found message, if the page is accessible then your ISP is not a member of the IWF censorshipt filter.
The story says that the "major UK ISPs" are thought to be O2/Be Unlimited, Virgin Media, Easynet, Plusnet, Demon, and Opal Telecommunications (TalkTalk).
The blocking has been prompted by the UK's Internet Watch Foundation.
The Scorpions album was released in 1976, so it's amazing to think that civilisation has managed to survive for more than 30 years [corrected], in spite of this evil in our midst.
The IWF has not acted against Amazon.com or other sites that carry images of the original album cover (which has apparently been replaced by something much uglier), such as Google. Also, there are several other album covers to censor, not to mention paintings, books, movies and Shakespeare plays. Presumably it's just a matter of time….
It should be noted that the cover in question is no stranger to controversy, and its use on Wikipedia has been under debate for some time. Gawker ran the story, Wikipedia Is Arguing Whether This Album Cover Is Child Porn, seven months ago, on May 9. But I didn't notice any American ISP's blocking access to Wikipedia.
-----------------------------------------------------
Paged Blocked below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer If your ISP is blocking it you should get a page not found message, if the page is accessible then your ISP is not a member of the IWF censorshipt filter.
Jenny
Homepage:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/British_ISPs_restrict_access_to_Wikipedia_amid_child_pornography_allegations
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