By Graeme Wearden, 21 July 2004 07:45
NEWS BT has said its new internet filtering tool was blocking thousands of attempts to access paedophilic websites every day.
The technology, called BT Cleanfeed, prevents BT Retail customers from accessing a list of websites identified by the Internet Watch Foundation as containing images of child pornography.
It was introduced on 21 June 2004. BT has now revealed that by 13 July it had blocked around 230,000 requests for access to one of these sites.
BT insists that it doesn't keep an explicit record of customers who are blocked from accessing a site on the Cleanfeed blacklist; however, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, internet service providers are forced to keep a record of all their customers' web activity.
It is unclear how many web users are responsible for the 230,000 requests, as a single surfer could generate a large number in a single session.
Over 50 MPs have signed an early day motion supporting BT for launching Cleanfeed, calling it an "an important deterrent to those accessing child pornography material on the internet".
BT says it is happy to share Cleanfeed with other ISPs but so far none have taken up the offer.
Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
There are 5 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
The reason I closed my BT account was that we were receiving over 400 filth spams a day, even using their spam blocking. It seems ironic that they can block outwards queries but not inwards. I queried this with them more than once and was told that the anti spam was working to expected standards.
How many of the 230,000 blocked requests were from bots placed on machines by incoming spam?
Tiscali and Yahoo (Old Yahoo.com not BTYahoo) seem to filter out the filth so why couldn't BT?
2. Richard
Just Spam Emails Fetching Images?
Could most of these "requests" actually be spam emails fetching "server based images" when an unwitting victim opens them?
Usually, spam emails are written in HTML. The HTML text contains hyperlinks which fetch the images from the spammers' servers. This allows the spammers to track their emails and to reduce the size of their messages.
When email is "previewed" in email clients such as MS Outlook Express and Outlook, "server based images" will normally be fetched automatically. Other email clients such as Pegasus Mail do not fetch images, unless asked.
Perhaps BT could provide reliable technical information and advice rather than tabloid friendly hype?
Exaggeration of this problem helps no-one, and just encourages the current repressive government to introduce more crazy laws.
3. Paul W. Gannello
The BT "cleanfeed" is the newest attempt to censor the world wide web which in my opinion should be left open and free of tampering with. Censoring child porn is only the first step in censoring anything else that is offensive to someone that disagrees with the content of the material presented.
4. Andrew Milner
The panic over Internet child pornography is the government generating the justification to control the Internet. The same process is used to justify infringement of civil liberties by exagagerating the terrorist threat. Wake up sheeple, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
5. anonymous
I firmly believe some of my legitimate sites are being blocked by BT currently - I'm begining to think that I am suffering from BT's over zealous cleanfeed filtering system.
So how does one check and/or get off their banned list.
Right now I believe I am losing thousands of prospective buyers from my shop per day but can't seem to prove it.