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| TalkTalk HomeSafe Blocks BitTorrent Sites Posted: 09 May 2011 01:13 PM PDT
Firstly it offers ‘Virus Alerts’ which blocks sites (or even individual sections of sites) known to be infected with malware before they can even reach a customer’s browser. Next up is ‘Homework Time’, a feature which allows parents to grant kids access to the Internet for educational purposes, but stops them in their tracks should they attempt to become distracted by social networking sites such as Facebook. The third category, known as KidsSafe, offers parents a set of controls to stop their kids (or indeed anyone else using a TalkTalk Internet connection) from accessing violent, pornographic or gambling content. HomeSafe goes about its business transparently by scanning the websites accessed by TalkTalk customers, assessing the security risk and applying filtering according to customer preferences. The company is assuring its subscribers that it stores no personal information such as IP addresses. However, TorrentFreak has learned that it also has another trick up its sleeve – the option to block BitTorrent and other file-sharing related sites. We spoke with TalkTalk’s (always helpful) PR company in order to try and obtain a list of sites currently under blockade but we were told that one isn’t available. Of course one does exist, we just aren’t being given access to it. What we have discovered is that HomeSafe only filters web browsing. This means that while, for example, The Pirate Bay might be blocked, if users can access the torrents from elsewhere (from a non-blocked site or via email or IM using a friend as a proxy) then the actual BitTorrent transfers will complete just fine. Nevertheless, getting this far could be tricky for new followers of the file-sharing craze since sites where users can download file-sharing software are also being blocked when HomeSafe is asked to do so. TalkTalk are stressing that HomeSafe is completely optional and is disabled by default and of course that is the right approach. However, while there is a clear need not to further publicize the URLs of certain sexually abusive sites which have no other purpose than to exploit, the same cannot be said about file-sharing sites and services. TalkTalk admits that HomeSafe isn’t an all-in-one silver bullet and as we have seen, its BitTorrent blocks can be circumvented with relative ease. But as it stands we don’t know which sites are blocked, or why, or who made that decision. If parents are being trusted to know what to censor for the benefit of their children, they need to make an informed decision and in order to do that there needs to be a level of transparency from TalkTalk. From our enquiries, that does not appear to be forthcoming, at least for now. So, if you’re a TalkTalk customer, head over to your control panel, turn the file-sharing ban controls up to 11 and start testing the big BitTorrent sites, uTorrent.com, Vuze.com, and others like RapidShare and MegaUpload. We’d love to hear about the results of your tests, backed up with screenshots if at all possible. Update: Well, well. It seems that our call for transparency fell a little closer to home than we expected. According to a kind TorrentFreak reader who just sent us in some screenshots, not only is isohunt.com, thepiratebay.org and newzbin.com blocked by HomeSafe but also…… …..TorrentFreak.com. We’ll speak to TalkTalk about this and post an update. |
| The Pirate Bay: “The Battle of Internets is About to Begin” Posted: 09 May 2011 06:41 AM PDT
To deal with illicit sites on the Internet, the group suggested the adoption of a China-like firewall to block websites deemed ‘inappropriate’. The controversial proposal immediately met resistance from various sides, including ISPs who would be tasked with maintaining the blocklist. The copyright lobby on the other hand welcomes the initiative which they’ve been suggesting for years. One of the sites that has a fair share of experience with being blocked is The Pirate Bay. The popular BitTorrent site is currently censored in Ireland, Italy and Denmark, and almost lost its domain name to the U.S. Government last year. Needless to say, they are not happy with the EU’s latest censorship proposal. In fact, today they declare war on the proponents of Internet censorship, most prominently the entertainment industry (MAFIAA) lobbyists. In a slightly edited version of Winston Churchill’s “this was their finest hour” speech, in which they replace Nazi-Germany with MAFIAA, The Pirate Bay team declares war on Internet censorship advocates. Action has to be taken before it’s too late, is the message they convey. “I expect that the Battle of Internets is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of an Uncensored civilization! Upon it depends our own free life, and the long continuity of our sites and our trackers. The whole fury and might of the enemy will very soon be turned on us,” The Pirate Bay writes. “MAFIAA knows that they will have to break us in Brussels or lose the war. If we can stand up to them, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.” “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the free Internets and its multitude of sites last for a thousand years, citizens will still say, This was their finest hour,” they add. The speech, signed by “Winston Bay,” clearly shows The Pirate Bay’s concern with censorship proposals as opted by the European Union recently. The big question remains, is there really something that can be done to stop it, or has that ship sailed already? Source: The Pirate Bay: “The Battle of Internets is About to Begin” |
Today, one of the UK’s leading Internet service providers unveiled a new system it believes will enhance the safety of families online. 
In February, a secret meeting of the European Union's Law Enforcement Work Party (LEWP) resulted in a worrying | You are subscribed to email updates from TorrentFreak To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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