EDITORIAL: There has been a storm of controversy over a decision by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to blacklist a page of Wikipedia. But the criticism of Britain’s online watchdog is unfair and hypocritical.Last Thursday, the IWF received a complaint from a member of the public about an image that appeared on a Wikipedia entry for German rock band Scorpions. The image was the original sleeve design for the band’s 1976 album ‘Virgin Killer’ and featured a young naked girl. The sleeve was banned in many countries when the album was released.The IWF assessed the image, agreed that it may be illegal, and added the page on which it featured to a blacklist of URLs. That blacklist is updated twice each day and is used by many ISPs in the UK to block their customers’ access to illegal images. They are not legally required to follow the blacklist – but many choose to do so.
http://out-law.com/page-9644
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/09/iwf_wikipedia_ban/
Why the IWF was right to ban a Wikipedia page
EDITORIAL: There has been a storm of controversy over a decision by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to blacklist a page of Wikipedia. But the criticism of Britain’s online watchdog is unfair and hypocritical.