UK Gov. Clueless About Own Internet Blacklist

spge writes "Computer Shopper magazine has interviewed the UK Home Office about its relationship with the Internet Watch Foundation and discovered that the government doesn't actually know what the IWF does, although it still plans to force UK ISPs to subscribe to the IWF's blacklist. The main story makes for interesting reading, but the best bit is the full transcript of the interview. Short version: the IWF investigates suspected child porn websites and adds any it finds to a list that ISPs can use to block these sites; uk.gov wants ISPs to use this list; however, the IWF is not an official government organization, does not appear to have legal permission to view child pornography, and quite possibly is breaking the law by doing so."

The first rule about blacklists is

[MichaelSmith]

...you don't link to the blacklist [slashdot.org].

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[Sobieski]

Especially from people who think about the children, alot.

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[dotancohen]

They're going to be getting some interesting job applicants, aren't they?

I've already applied. It's what I do all day anyway. Well, that and /..

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[who knows my name]

Hey, I live in Cambridge and I'm not a child-molesting... damn. But seriously, we were going to paste pictures of Virgin Killer all over their building at the end of last year, but everyone had gone home :(

Re:New title required....

[Houndofhell]

Oh i think our Government does have that patent somewhere, remember we did own most of the world at one point,
so we must have spawned the cluelessness of other governments.

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[Anonymous Coward]

But the real question is - are they hiring?

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[L4t3r4lu5]

Would the answer be any different?

Re:New title required....

[catman]

Heh. I was standing at customs in New Delhi *mumble* years ago trying to bring in a piece of equipment needed for a presentation. A British gentleman was watching me struggle with the paperwork, noticing that I was neither British nor Indian, he remarked "you can blame us - we taught them."

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[Shakrai]

Hi, I'm just wondering what the hell can be a "clearance to watch child pornography" and who the hell is able to get or deliver one to another???

Well, if they are handed out by a Governmental agency that works in the same manner as DMV you'll need to stand in line for three hours, deal with someone who hates her job even though she is making three times what she would in the private sector and then get sent to the back of another line because you chose the wrong one even though nobody bothered to post any signs ;)

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[AGMW]

LOL: When I read the topic title all I could think about was the waste of four words!

Can we change it to:-
UK Gov. Clueless

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[mdwh2]

Not many. There are many countries that have state funded healthcare, but none that I know of that have the politicians providing it.

Re:Who watches the watchers?

[Anonymous Coward]

[this isn't wikipedia]