British minister praises self regulation by ISPs to block criminal content, but ISPs hesitate to expand its scope

Internet service providers in the UK fear that the British government is keen on promoting greater informal policing of internet content. The concerns arose as Ed Vaizey, the minister of culture, spoke at the launch of Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) 2010 Annual Report, yesterday.

He praised the IWF and British ISPs for having put in place a good model for dealing with child abuse and criminally obscene material that was recognised around the world. Both he and Home Office Minister James Brokenshire indicated that they "liked the self-regulatory model" and very much hoped it would continue. Vaizey also indicated that there might be room to extend the IWF’s methods, to cover other categories of material.

Although Vaizey did not specify the nature of material that he had in mind, or who would be responsible for setting up the new self-regulatory body, the minister is currently involved in talks about an opt-in, or even a block, for adult content. ISPs presume the next step of government will be to encourage ISPs to block pages that display copyright protected footage online without permission.

Nicholas Lansman, secretary-general for the Internet Service Providers' Association, said: "Politicians need to understand that there is a world of difference between blocking material that is generally agreed to be abhorrent and unlawful across the world, and on the other hand, blocking or policing where different regulatory regimes are in play.”

Officials at both the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Home Office quickly played down any suggestion of a new self-regulation initiative and said they are not calling for a new body or for expanding on the IWF-approach.

Any attempt to expand the remit of the IWF will be considered carefully by the IWF Board and the internet industry, which funds it. By nature, governments tend to expand the scope of (self-)regulation. According to The Register, this is not the first time the British government has suggested that the IWF-approach could be suitable to combat other socially rejectable conduct. In the past, former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith expressed a brief interest in asking the IWF to monitor terrorist content, at the time, this proposal did not lead to anything.

Source: The Register