On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 1:52 PM, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.comwrote:
2008/12/9 Anthony wikimail@inbox.org:
On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 1:43 PM, Gregory Maxwell gmaxwell@gmail.com
wrote:
On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 1:30 PM, Anthony wikimail@inbox.org wrote:
Right now the whole thing is under review.
Not anymore: The IWF has stated that the block will be removed.
"See, proof that the IWF system works"
Seriously though, I hope they explain exactly why they've made that decision, though I doubt they will.
They have explained it on their website (http://www.iwf.org.uk/media/news.251.htm). The relevant bit is:
"Following representations from Wikipedia, IWF invoked its Appeals Procedure and has given careful consideration to the issues involved in this case. The procedure is now complete and has confirmed that the image in question is potentially in breach of the Protection of Children Act 1978. However, the IWF Board has today (9 December 2008) considered these findings and the contextual issues involved in this specific case and, in light of the length of time the image has existed and its wide availability, the decision has been taken to remove this webpage from our list."
Wow, that's exactly the type of explanation I was looking for. I'm going to hold off on deciding whether or not I agree with it.
Also interesting is:
"IWF's overriding objective is to minimise the availability of indecent images of children on the internet, however, on this occasion our efforts have had the opposite effect. We regret the unintended consequences for Wikipedia and its users. Wikipedia have been informed of the outcome of this procedure and IWF Board's subsequent decision."
If they'd asked, we could have told them that would happen... at least they realise it now and will hopefully take that into account in future.
I'm not sure if I disagree with their conclusion, or disagree with their objective. I think this incident has at least had the potential to encourage productive dialogue about this problem.
Of course, they probably see the issue in a completely different way than I do anyway, especially if their goal is to minimize the availability of the images, and not to minimize the actual victimization of children.