Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/10/25/uk_online_blacklists_400k_inappropriate/

UK Online blacklists 400k ‘inappropriate’ Web sites

Family-oriented ISP makes stand against child porn

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 25th October 1999 13:00 GMT

British ISP UK Online is claiming the moral high ground in the fight against pornography and gambling on the Web. Its proprietary software filtering system, ChildCheck, now blocks more than 400,000 "inappropriate" Web sites and the company (part of the Easynet Group) claims the list is growing all the time. Its own team of human porn checkers scours the Web regularly in search of offensive material and it also relies on its users to report any unsuitable material. While ChildCheck won't stop children from trying to search for inappropriate material, it will stop them from accessing any sites that are contained on its blacklist. Greg Raymond of UK Online said: "We block just as many Web sites as other products and the service is free to users of UK Online." Unfortunately, it's not known how many "inappropriate" Web sites there are on the Net but there seems little doubt that there are rather more than 400,000. Last month, porn filtering veteran Net Nanny signed a distribution agreement with the Nationwide, which saw Britain's biggest building society offer the software to its customers at a discount. ® Full Register Net child porn coverage