ISP Gives Customers The Power To Ban BitTorrent

ISP Gives Customers The Power To Ban BitTorrent
September 28, 2009

" An ISP in the UK is set to introduce a voluntary customer Internet censorship scheme. Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse/TalkTalk said the company would introduce parental controls for subscribers which would include a feature to ban BitTorrent sites.

As the music industry continues to pressurize anyone it believes can stop illicit file-sharing, its main focus remains ISPs. These service providers are often accused of doing nothing to stop the spread of pirated material on the Internet, despite being very well aware of it. The music industry wants to hold them accountable, the ISPs say it’s not their problem.

Previously the international music industry has taken legal action to order various ISPs in several countries to block The Pirate Bay, but to our knowledge none have offered to help block BitTorrent sites voluntarily – until now.

Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse which operates the ISP TalkTalk, said the company would introduce a cinema-style ratings system for web content.

Aside from the self-explanatory 18 rating, there will be two others. Parents setting their connection to U and 14 will trigger a pornography and gambling filter, but they will also have the power to ban file-sharing and BitTorrent sites too.

“This is something that we are going to do anyway, as a service to our customers,” Dunstone told FT. “But through doing it we can also help the content industry by blacklisting sites that have BitTorrent files on them,” he added.

It’s not difficult to see how a system like this might prove attractive to the music industry if used in conjunction with the proposed “3 strikes” mechanism. Customers receiving an industry warning after their account is flagged as sharing illicit files could then have the immediate option to switch on this ISP-level firewall to thwart their kids.

But like all ’solutions’, for the tech-savvy they’re just another problem to be solved. "

:source: Source: http://torrentfreak.com/isp-gives-cu...orrent-090928/:view: Homepage: http://www.torrentfreak.com/

People don't realize what they are giving up every time they "volunteer" to sacrifice their rights. The "Industries" keep trying different angles. How easy would it be for record/movie industries to bribe their way into this kind of blockage? It's just one more chip out of the freedoms we enjoy. These "Industries" have had absolute control of media- the internet gave control to the end user. We need to oppose every hostile action of this nature. Once the ISP barrier breaks, our free communications are gone.

How is this hostile? re read the article mate it is about a parental lock feature the same as you get on TV etc

Fair question, UnGodly. Thanks for asking. :)

The very short of if (all I am up for righting at the moment, but I will continue the conversation if you would like to) is Net neutrality.

While the television has features which allow for the user to filter content which is inappropriate, the ISP is looking to exclude data transfer solely in the case of BT.

In other words (and I encourage you to look into "Net Neutrality" issues on your own), I could not contact the ISP and request that all FTP files be cut off. Nor could I request that no one be able to download via Internet Explorer. I could not have the ISP block everything from Time Warner, etc.

This is solely (for now) aimed at "reducing piracy". And why wouldn't "good" people want to block "evil" BT traffic?

No, this would not be the end of the internet, nor BT, but it would be a very convenient and discriminatory way for the "Industries" to put pressure on ISPs to filter, restrict, or eliminate BT data transfer. After all, BT is ONLY used for downloading "illegal content", right?

As I mentioned, we need to keep our ISPs free. If the "Industries" start pressuring, we WILL lose our free choice. This is on its face, quite a small gesture, it is in reality, quite concerning. And I see it as hostile.

Fair question, UnGodly. Thanks for asking. :)

The very short of if (all I am up for righting at the moment, but I will continue the conversation if you would like to) is Net neutrality.

While the television has features which allow for the user to filter content which is inappropriate, the ISP is looking to exclude data transfer solely in the case of BT.

In other words (and I encourage you to look into "Net Neutrality" issues on your own), I could not contact the ISP and request that all FTP files be cut off. Nor could I request that no one be able to download via Internet Explorer. I could not have the ISP block everything from Time Warner, etc.

This is solely (for now) aimed at "reducing piracy". And why wouldn't "good" people want to block "evil" BT traffic?

No, this would not be the end of the internet, nor BT, but it would be a very convenient and discriminatory way for the "Industries" to put pressure on ISPs to filter, restrict, or eliminate BT data transfer. After all, BT is ONLY used for downloading "illegal content", right?

As I mentioned, we need to keep our ISPs free. If the "Industries" start pressuring, we WILL lose our free choice. This is on its face, quite a small gesture, it is in reality, quite concerning. And I see it as hostile.