Zen Internet pledges to join child porn watchdog

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 30 Jun 2009 at 14:39

Zen Internet says it's committed to joining the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), despite reservations about the watchdog's blacklist approach.

Around 95% of British broadband users belong to an ISP that deploys the IWF's blacklist, which bars access to sites hosting child abuse images.

The Government and the Children's Charities Coalition have both exerted pressure on smaller ISPs such as Zen to sign up.

However, Zen has previously refused to join the IWF, citing unspecified "concerns over its effectiveness". The IWF was at the centre of a scandal last year, when its decision to block a page on Wikipedia led to millions of Britons being barred from the online encyclopaedia.

Now the PC Pro award winning ISP says it's willing to sign up. "We have committed to joining the IWF," Zen's head of product management and marketing, Andrew Saunders, told PC Pro.

The ISP claims to have consulted industry experts, such as Dr Richard Clayton, before reaching its decision.

However, the company says it still has doubts over whether a straight blacklist approach is the best way to block illegal content.

"We fully support the IWF's position and what it's trying to do," said Zen's service improvement and regulatory manager, Gary Hough. "The issue is whether the blocking list is the most effective way of doing this."

Hough denies the ISP was emotionally blackmailed into signing up by the Government and children's charities. "I think the majority of Zen customers were supportive of our position," he claims.