UK plans to block all pornography outside of the "norm" - Digital Economy Bill

[Oshino Shinobu]

 

Ah, the UK Government's war on pornography continues. Not too long ago, I posted a topic looking at how the UK Government plans on introducing strict age verification on all "adult" websites, blocking any sites that do not comply with their terms. Now, that legislation is scary because of how vague the terminology is. It simply refers to "adult" content, rather than pornography. Still, it is being pushed forward under the guise of "protecting the children" from that nasty, evil pornography. 

 

Now, it has emerged that the government is planning something much more terrifying. They have plans to add another change (in addition to age verification) to the Digital Economy Bill that will essentially block all websites that host pornography that is considered "non-conventional". As with the age verification legislation, the wording of this new part of the bill is extremely vague. It merely describes the blocked content as being "non-conventional", with no real indication of what that actually is. More than likely, it will include the types of pornography that were made illegal to film in the UK, such as female ejaculation, face sitting and fisting. Of course, these actions are still legal to perform with a consensual partner(s) in your own home, you just can't watch it or film it.... For some reason. 

 

This ISP level block wouldn't be exclusive to UK sites like the ban on filming certain acts. This is a blanket ban that will block all sites hosting the non-conventional pornography, regardless of the country it is hosted in. A big concern for this legislation is what the Government is going to consider "non-conventional", as it's extremely vague and subjective. To one person, homosexual pornography may be considered non-conventional, so could that be blocked? Even if it's not homosexual pornography that is blocked, if something like sodomy is blocked because the UK Government doesn't like it, it could essentially block a lot of homosexual male pornography, essentially meaning that the UK Government doesn't approve of homosexual males having sex. 

 

Quote

Kitguru:

We also have no idea how the BBFC – the agency tasked with upholding the law – would know what sites are hosting what. It can’t go around watching all the porn there is, so presumably would rely on reports from citizens, which are unlikely to be common. Questions also remain about how it would react to large scale sites like Twitter, which has copious amounts of easily accessible porn on it.

 

Kitguru raises a good point here. Technically, sites like Tumblr, Twitter and a ton of image hosting websites often host pornography that can be considered non-conventional, so are they going to be blocked as well? How are the sites that host the blocked content going to be identified? Perhaps there will be an influx in jobs for watching porn to decide which sites to block. Get your CVs ready.

 

Much like the age verification systems (which seem to be planning to use credit card checks to determine age, and exactly who you are), these blocks are unlikely to be very effective at preventing access to such sites, as VPN and proxy servers are available so readily. However, considering the amount of censorship laws the UK plans on passing, I wouldn't be surprised to see a future ban on VPNs and similar services.

 

Well, the UK Government is starting to go down a very dangerous and scary path. In the past, they have voiced their support for China's stance on internet control and censorship. This does not bode well for UK citizens, especially once we leave the EU and the UK Government gains more control over the laws they can pass and we lose the protection that EU laws, such as the Net Neutrality rules, offer us. Honestly, it's not the content that is being blocked that is worrying me, it is the fact that the Government is planning on blocking content, purely because they don't like it. The age verification legislation, while still a scary precedent, can be argued to have some useful purpose. This, however, is just censorship based on some personal views of our government which can easily lead to the blocking of other things the government doesn't like. If this extends to blocking certain views because the UK doesn't like it, that is very, very scary and akin to North Korea's stance on the internet. 

 

While I've joked about leaving the UK because of Brexit, if the UK continues down this road, I wouldn't be opposed to taking a job in another country, just the get away from a Government that is pushing its own views so forcefully on the population. 

 

Source: Kitguru

 

UK "adult" age verification rulings: 

 

[tlink]

fucking kink shamers man. also fucking sexists for banning female ejaculation.

[Matt_98]

Any jobs going in Korea (i hear they have good internet) 

[suicidalfranco]

Damn Bruxelles passing this laws on to the brits... oh wait!

[rentaspoon]

The EU have nothing to do with this nor does brexit, this is to do with David Camerons legacy, he hates porn, he thinks Britain is broken and loves to lie constantly.

[Matt_98]

Just now, rentaspoon said:

The EU have nothing to do with this nor does brexit, this is to do with David Camerons legacy, he hates porn, he thinks Britain is broken and loves to lie constantly.

ironic considering he fucked a pig

[suicidalfranco]

2 minutes ago, rentaspoon said:

The EU have nothing to do with this nor does brexit, this is to do with David Camerons legacy, he hates porn, he thinks Britain is broken and loves to lie constantly.

>fucks pig head

>hates porn

"wat.png"

[tlink]

7 minutes ago, rentaspoon said:

The EU have nothing to do with this nor does brexit, this is to do with David Camerons legacy, he hates porn, he thinks Britain is broken and loves to lie constantly.

actually it does, when they leave the EU can't enforce their laws on them anymore which probably would have challenged this law (whether they find it legal or not i don't know but at least there is a possibility).

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/eu-rules-uks-porn-filters-are-illegal-a6711756.html

[kuddlesworth9419]

Will this cover Doujin and Hentei. We will have a problem if it does. I will have to move country. I always wanted to move to Finland. I wander if they block it there. And I know this s going to be a real pain because in the UK they block a bunch of pirating websites which is really annoying.

[Jovidah]

37 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

 

Now, it has emerged that the government is planning something much more terrifying. They have plans to add another change (in addition to age verification) to the Digital Economy Bill that will essentially block all websites that host pornography that is considered "non-conventional". As with the age verification legislation, the wording of this new part of the bill is extremely vague. It merely describes the blocked content as being "non-conventional", with no real indication of what that actually is. More than likely, it will include the types of pornography that were made illegal to film in the UK, such as female ejaculation, face sitting and fisting. Of course, these actions are still legal to perform with a consensual partner(s) in your own home, you just can't watch it or film it.... For some reason. 

 

This ISP level block wouldn't be exclusive to UK sites like the ban on filming certain acts. This is a blanket ban that will block all sites hosting the non-conventional pornography, regardless of the country it is hosted in. A big concern for this legislation is what the Government is going to consider "non-conventional", as it's extremely vague and subjective. To one person, homosexual pornography may be considered non-conventional, so could that be blocked? Even if it's not homosexual pornography that is blocked, if something like sodomy is blocked because the UK Government doesn't like it, it could essentially block a lot of homosexual male pornography, essentially meaning that the UK Government doesn't approve of homosexual males having sex. 

 

I honestly don't understand what they're trying to achieve here. You'd think they have bigger problems right now. Brexit anyone?

 

Especially when the 'non-conventional' is so vague. Not that I care for it, but I don't see how things like female ejaculation and what not are problematic. As long as the acts are committed by 2 consentual adults, who are we to decide what they should and shouldn't do? And I agree, some of the states with limited gay rights would have a field day with this. They'd just carbon copy the law and at every point of criticism simply point at the UK.

 

I could understand if they somehow wanted to curb more dodgy stuff like child pornography and bestiality; it no longer fits the 'consenting adults' criterium. But this... eh? 

Just like the 'porn register' I'm really baffled. It's like some complete idiots with no idea of how the internet works came up with this.

Most of all I don't see the social goal they're hoping to achieve; what problem they are trying to fix. If you're trying to 'desexualize' an oversexualized society, I'm afraid there's a lot of 'mainstream' content that might be far more responsible.

[rentaspoon]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

actually it does, when they leave the EU can't enforce their laws on them anymore which probably would have challenged this law (whether they find it legal or not i don't know but at least there is a possibility).

All EU laws become UK law when we leave, they then have to be petitioned to be removed in court/parliament. Plus this law has been pasted while we are in the EU

8 minutes ago, Matt_98 said:

ironic considering he fucked a pig

Dead pigs and loves to tell porkies ? 

[Jovidah]

7 minutes ago, tlink said:

actually it does, when they leave the EU can't enforce their laws on them anymore which probably would have challenged this law (whether they find it legal or not i don't know but at least there is a possibility).

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/eu-rules-uks-porn-filters-are-illegal-a6711756.html

Yep. No way this would have survived EU courts and regulations. But if they're no longer a EU member...well....technically they can do what they want. I don't really see the EU making 'British internet regulations' a big part of the negotiations on the future relationship treaty either.

[tlink]

1 minute ago, rentaspoon said:

All EU laws become UK law when we leave, they then have to be petitioned to be removed in court/parliament. Plus this law has been pasted while we are in the EU

how come all EU laws become UK laws when you leave? that the law has been passed while in the EU doesn't say a lot, why would the EU spend money on something as arbitrary as this if some of the people of the UK have chosen not to be ruled by them anymore? i get that they are legally there but i doubt that you guys will be treated the same in these kinds of situations.

[rentaspoon]

2 minutes ago, Jovidah said:

Yep. No way this would have survived EU courts and regulations. But if they're no longer a EU member...well....technically they can do what they want. I don't really see the EU making 'British internet regulations' a big part of the negotiations on the future relationship treaty either.

We are still in the EU and it was deemed brexit wasn't legal, thanks to a law Cameron passed last year that he didn't follow when issuing the referendum. We might not even leave depending on what happens in parliament in the next coming months, hell we might see a vote of no confidence in the goverment.

1 minute ago, tlink said:

how come all EU laws become UK laws when you leave? that the law has been passed while in the EU doesn't say a lot, why would the EU spend money on something as arbitrary as this if some of the people of the UK have chosen not to be ruled by them anymore? i get that they are legally there but i doubt that you guys will be treated the same in these kinds of situations.

Because that was a UK law that was passed to ensure a smooth transition and I'm pretty sure we have a law with the EU saying that the EU can't interfere with our laws unless it's things like human rights etc 

[tlink]

1 minute ago, rentaspoon said:

We are still in the EU and it was deemed brexit wasn't legal, thanks to a law Cameron passed last year that he didn't follow when issuing the referendum. We might not even leave depending on what happens in parliament in the next coming months, hell we might see a vote of no confidence in the goverment.

Because that was a UK law that was passed to ensure a smooth transition and I'm pretty sure we have a law with the EU saying that the EU can't interfere with our laws unless it's things like human rights etc 

well i hope it turns out okay for you gals, pretty shitty how it went.

[The Belgian Waffle]

45 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

A country for normies. Obedient normies.

You special? Then gtfo

Fck no lolis anymore

[themctipers]

 

@TheRandomness

[Sauron]

42 minutes ago, Matt_98 said:

ironic considering he fucked a pig

Wait - isn't that black mirror?

[Jovidah]

24 minutes ago, rentaspoon said:

We are still in the EU and it was deemed brexit wasn't legal, thanks to a law Cameron passed last year that he didn't follow when issuing the referendum. We might not even leave depending on what happens in parliament in the next coming months, hell we might see a vote of no confidence in the goverment.

Because that was a UK law that was passed to ensure a smooth transition and I'm pretty sure we have a law with the EU saying that the EU can't interfere with our laws unless it's things like human rights etc 

I wouldn't keep your hopes up. Sure you're still in the EU now, but that's just a matter of waiting.

 

As for 'whether or not you'll leave'.... I think there's a very slim chance of thatchanging. The main reason is that it's politically different. Neither party dares to backtrack on it, since doing so would still mean pissing off about half the electorate. Even if both parties did it, they'd just leave the sheer majority of the 'leave'-voters to again vote for UKIP in protest, thereby helping them to a majority (as labor and conservatives would split the stay vote). In fear of this scenario, neither party will try to keep things as they are. They might try to lessen the blow, keep it a 'paper exit' while keeping as much the same as they can, but actually remaining in full is very unlikely.

[FoxyOrange]

I think what's going on here is that they're masquerading acts that they consider and brand as  "pure" or "righteous" to push their goal while having much more malicious ulterior motives going on. Some groups may be uncomfortable about going against these actions and any groups and organisations that do so would be easy targets for the Murdoch media. I'm not putting my own hand on what's right/wrong with regards to the content being blocked but just stating that conservative/traditional media and conservative/traditional individuals may roll their eyes at those who try and fight this, and they might think it wont harm them. This is what the government want. They may know this and see this as an opportunity to begin a process of serious internet censorship. Once they take this first step, it's a lot easier for them to take the next. UK peeps, if you don't know a second language, now might be the time to start learning. 

TL;DR., My theory, Cameron is using the "Ban porn to protect children," front to push serious internet censorship in the UK.

[malon]

So basicly all porn websites that have any other variation of pornography exept missionary under the bedsheets in a dark room will be blocked, poor uk and i am honest about that.

Also am i the only one who fears that sex ed, ifthat even is a thing in the uk, honestly dont know but wouldnt be supriced if it isnt a thing there at this point, is going to be delayed to the last year of hischool or even canceled in its total by the current government

[Oshino Shinobu]

47 minutes ago, rentaspoon said:

All EU laws become UK law when we leave, they then have to be petitioned to be removed in court/parliament. Plus this law has been pasted while we are in the EU

 

This law hasn't passed, and it's technically not a new law. It's an edit/addition to the Digital Economy Bill, which is already in place. This edit to the bill is technically in violation of the EU's Net Neutrality rulings, but like the age verification plans, it bypasses those rulings. Once we're no longer tied to the EU (depending on our exit agreement, we may still have to work with the EU for certain laws), the government can start the process of creating their own rules and gain more control over the internet in the UK. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, FoxyOrange said:

I think what's going on here is that they're masquerading acts that they consider and brand as  "pure" or "righteous" to push their goal while having much more malicious ulterior motives going on. Some groups may be uncomfortable about going against these actions and any groups and organisations that do so would be easy targets for the Murdoch media. I'm not putting my own hand on what's right/wrong with regards to the content being blocked but just stating that conservative/traditional media and conservative/traditional individuals may roll their eyes at those who try and fight this, and they might think it wont harm them. This is what the government want. They may know this and see this as an opportunity to begin a process of serious internet censorship. Once they take this first step, it's a lot easier for them to take the next. UK peeps, if you don't know a second language, now might be the time to start learning. 

The vagueness of these new bits of legislation is what scares me. They all seem to be worded in a deliberately ambiguous way to give the government more control than most people realise. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

4 minutes ago, malon said:

So basicly all porn websites that have any other variation of pornography exept missionary under the bedsheets in a dark room will be blocked, poor uk and i am honest about that.

Also am i the only one who fears that sex ed, ifthat even is a thing in the uk, honestly dont know but wouldnt be supriced if it isnt a thing there at this point, is going to be delayed to the last year of hischool or even canceled in its total by the current government

Sex education (at least when I did it. I am 21 now) was extremely basic. I don't know exactly what it is now, but it definitely seems to be lacking compared to other countries. Our government seems to be taking the stance of "protecting" the children from pornography instead of educating them about sexual health and safe sex. 

[FoxyOrange]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

The vagueness of these new bits of legislation is what scares me. They all seem to be worded in a deliberately ambiguous way to give the government more control than most people realise.

This trend of vague and broad description of what new laws, trade agreements, etc can entail has been propping up more and more in recent years (within the context of intellectual property, the internet and other tech related areas). It is indeed pretty alarming, almost as scary as the ignorance many people seem to posses regarding this and many other similar things. (E.G., TPP)