Opt in for adult content coming by the end of 2013 in the UK

[BadCompany5150]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this or if anyone else as brought this up but this was reported about 5 hours ago on many sites but here is the Mirror.co.uk article

Pornography to be blocked by major internet providers unless users opt in for adult content
30 Jun 2013 22:37

Eight million households signed up to Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk will receive “clean” internet, unless users tick a box asking for access

Pornography is to be blocked in millions of homes in a bid to make youngsters safer online.

The move comes as it was revealed porn would also be banned from public wi-fi spots, with major firms signing up to provide a “clean feed”.

Under the new measures for households, web users will have to specifically request “adult content” from their internet providers.

By the end of 2013 more than 12 million households signed up to Sky, Virgin and Talk Talk will have to tick boxes when they apply or messages will be sent to existing users making them decide if they want a “clean feed” or not.

Parents will also be able to block porn from every device connecting to wi-fi in a home, with one click.

The online protection will cover all computers, games consoles and *hand-held devices accessing the web.

Sky has 4.4 million users and Virgin Media provides the internet to 4.3 million homes across the country.

A spokesman for Virgin Media said: “With the new technology we’ll be introducing this year, all customers, new and existing, will choose the level of parental control that is right for them.

“It will apply to all devices and gadgets that connect to the household’s internet.”

So I just wanted to get folks opinions on this because while most will see this as a great idea but when they roll this out what's stopping the ISP's (who are under pressure from the government - Conservative MP Claire Perry said ISPs should act without regulation but warned if they didn't or wouldn't "then we will have to step in".) from straight out blocking individual sites because they are "unsafe" for kids or the general public. At the same time when did parents stop being parents?

I can honestly say that in the early 00's when I was about 10 - 12 I never accidentally landed on a porn site and if my parents every found out they would bollock me and ban me from the net (doing their job) but at the same time I never found any of this 'violent' porn that every kid seems to land on. They have to be actively searching for it right? Again sorry if this is not the right place for this piece but I wanna see what others think about this.

[Anadin]

I think it's kinda a good idea but it should be the other way round (opt in) and perhaps there should be family friendly ISP packages which block content cause in chances are many kids are more internet savvy than their parents.
Personally I'm more worried about kids seeing messed up gore videos like 3 guys 1 hammer than porn but I wouldn't really want them to see any of it.

[HiTrack99]

I aree with you Anadin, it should be the other way round, but as so many people are so un savvy when it comes to the internet it's probably the best way to do it.

Wonder how they'll do this? Do you have to call up a call centre and say "oi, can I have my porn back?"