This weekend as I was reading The Times on Saturday I came across an article by Janice Turner about the role of ISPs in preventing children from accessing Pornography and other harmful content – now the article raises some interesting questions and I think the most important one is about the role of an ISP. Every now and again somebody comes along and has a swipe at the industry (be it Porn or Illegal Music Downloads) and I think it is more important that people understand the function of an ISP and then make an informed choice as to where the decisions and responsibility for content control should lie.
Fundamentally the Internet is an IP network – and the main point of IP is reachability – i.e. providing an easy and efficient way to route a piece of information from point A to point B. In my opinion ISPs should be seen as a link to that Internet cloud, providing physical connectivity to and an identity (IP address/range) on the Internet. Their role in higher layers of the network should be limited to the DPI technology required to apply adequate Quality of Service (QoS) models to ensure that customers get the best service for the time of day (also the provision of services like DNS and Email). There are a number of reasons that I do not think blocking access to content should lie at the edge of the network:
- The platforms required to screen and block content have to scale along with traffic demand i.e. as the ISP carries more traffic the platforms need to be made larger. This runs counter to the current market conditions where ISPs and mobile networks are being forced to carry more traffic for the same monthly fees
- Blocking the content is a large technical challenge and if the Tax Consultancy business teaches us anything the producers will find a way to get through the filters faster than the filters can keep up, and if the filters are made to be too restricive (i.e. block anying with ‘sex’ in it, for instance Middlesex…?) then people will just ask for them to be turned off
Like the broadcast and print media industries the responsibility for blocking access to content has to lie with the content producer – trying to hold a network provider responsible for the traffic that is carried over the network is like limiting access to paper pornography by making the Highways Agency responsible for checking every vehicle for it.
I think that on top of this we cannot ignore the role of correct and strong parenting – I think the attitude of expecting somebody else to be responsible for blocking this content is indicative of the little time that many parents spend with their children – what about surfing the Internet with them?
The porn industry has no interest in letting its content be seen for free and if strong controls and penalties were introduced I think the problem would sort itself out, asking the ISPs to do it is just asking for an imprecise and costly solution that will affect the quality of service that the majority of users experience rather than stopping the minority of users who are exposing their children to this content.
[P.S. I would have provided a link to the article - however The Times closed its electronic doors to non-fee payers this week]
