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Pirates at war [Northern Echo (England)](Northern Echo (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) When does internet security become internet censorship? The High Court has slammed the doors on The Pirate Bay, but blocking the internet isn't that simple. Giles Turnbull explains THE High Court wants internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to Swedish file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. As a result of the ruling, the UK's biggest ISPs will start blocking The Pirate Bay soon. But internet freedom activists say the block is pointless, because it is easy to get round and does nothing to punish people who break the law. The internet was designed to work around blockages of all sorts. Anyone determined to visit The Pirate Bay will still be able to do so - by visiting a mirrored copy elsewhere, by using a secure connection (beginning with "https" rather than "http"), or simply through something called a Virtual Private Network, which encrypts net traffic so that it cannot be monitored or blocked, not even by the ISP providing the connection. What's more, the torrent files the Pirate Bay provides links to can be found in all sorts of other places and via other kinds of software. Blocking the one website does nothing to limit access to them, and may drive people to use VPNs more than ever before. But campaigners say that censoring the whole internet isn't the answer. Graeme Batsman, ethical hacker at Data Defender (datadefender. co. uk), says: "Monitoring will simply encourage people to use countermeasures such as encrypted connections." Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group (openrightsgroup. org), says: "Blocking the Pirate Bay is pointless and dangerous. It will fuel calls for further, wider and even more drastic calls for internet censorship of many kinds, from pornography to extremism. "Internet censorship is growing in scope and becoming easier. Yet it never has the effect desired. It simply turns criminals into heroes." THE EU WANTS YOU THE European Commission is taking a careful look at the embedded technology bringing about the socalled "internet of things", where smart objects all around us start changing the way we live. Well, that's the plan at any rate. The Commission is concerned about the "profound impact on society, in areas such as privacy, security, ethics, and liability", and wants to hear what ordinary people think about it all. So it's published an online questionnaire, which you can find at tinyurl. com/cdkg5gk Websites of the week Browsing around. . . fractals Fractals in nature (pictured) dosters. hubpages. com/hub/fractals-fractals-in-nature Fractal artwork bkenney. com/fractals 100 fractal images bit. ly/ 76T33Y The fractal consultants fractal. org Desktop background pictures celestialdreams. wordpress. com/freebies Ablog about fractals alt-fractals. blogspot. co. uk Thing of the week Twitter tells the time chirpclock. com (c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |