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Leader: Get to know your ISP
Or it may just get away with censorship

By silicon.com

Published: Wednesday 09 June 2004

BT announced earlier this week that it is trying out a new technology that blocks all sites with pornographic images of children from its internet customers.

It's hard to argue with this because of the type of content being blocked. Child pornography is both illegal and, as considered by the vast majority (including us), immoral.

The underlying issue here is a bit thornier, however. To what extent should your ISP be able to decide which online content you can and can't see?

It's all about precedent. Could policies like BT's be used down the road as the basis for it or other ISPs blacking out, for example, all websites from a certain country? (Surely there would be some explanation, perhaps having to do with national security.)

In short: yes.

Free-speech activists would complain about it but, for the most, part providers wouldn't care as long as they didn't lose too large a chunk of custom. Smaller providers would be more sensitive because they could be put out of business by an exodus of the disgruntled.

Whether you think this is right or wrong, ISPs are private businesses that offer a prescribed service in exchange for a fee. If you're not happy with that service, fine, go to the competition. Chances are, as long as there's demand for unlimited (or nearly unlimited) access to the net, there'll be someone out there willing to take your money and let you look at your hate sites or read newspapers from a country that your country's unfriendly with.

This is not all bad. It gives you, the customer, a lot of control. You can register your vote of approval or disapproval for a particular provider by signing up or getting out.

Take the time to examine what it is that your ISP's doing behind closed doors. Find out if it is blocking illegal pornography, which may well increase your loyalty to it, or whether it is censoring certain points of view, which may illicit a different response.

Get to know your provider's policies for privacy and content blocking.

And if you don't like what you find out, spend your money elsewhere. ISPs will have to weigh up their risks of losing or gaining customers by adopting a given stance.