British ISP Policy Forces Players to Change Filtering to Allow Adult Sites

New British ISP polices will begin in February that make it mandatory for users to reset their filters in order the continuous blocking of adult sites which including sites for gambling.

New British ISP policies will begin soon as a result of continuous political pressure on British internet service providers. Last week, the company Sky announced last week that it would launch new restrictions for internet users. The formidable ISP company said that beginning in February, users will have to change their setting in order to access adult sites, which according to UK gambling laws, includes gambling as well as pornographic and extreme websites. Failure to comply will result in users unable to access blocked sites.

Sky’s Broadband Shield filtering program isn’t the only one moving in this general direction. TalkTalk, another ISP company, also stated that a filtering system will change for their HomeSafe filter. In February it will also be required for users to opt-in to access adult sites. The drawback to opting-in and re-configuring settings is that these extra steps could make more active users feel frustrated and not bother with visiting sites resulting in a loss of revenue.

BT and Virgin Media Considering Options other Than Forced Opt in

Despite political pressure, other options to forced user opt-ins are are still being considered. BT has been using survey in order to ask their clients about their feeling regarding automated filtering. Virgin Media has left the decision whether to active filtering entirely up to its users. Unfortunately only 10 percent have opted for active filtering.

Internet Freedom action groups have given numbers example of over-blocking in order to make a point that such over-zealous action can result in the block of fully legitimate websites. Well known in UK gambling news, two years ago a UK ruling that BT had to block Usenet access to service provider Newzbin2, which allowed copyright companies to shut down other sites as well. The result was that Virgin Media and Sky owned Be Broadband network reported around 200 legitimate websites that were affected.