Thread: Website age ratings 'an option'
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Old 27-12-2008, 17:10   #18
Stuart
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Re: Website age ratings 'an option'
Quote:
Originally Posted by RizzyKing View Post
As to your point Zing my pc and my daughters and sons have a different ip address's so such a system could be applied to theirs and not mine. Yes this proposal isn't very good but everything has to start somewhere and hopefully this will be the start. Another good start would be for the social networking sites to more strictly administer the content many of them have on them.

Every device on the Internet has a different IP. However, due to the way that routers have to work, if you have a router, your ISP will see all the requests as coming from every PC in your house as coming from one IP. This is called Network Address Translation and basically, your router has it's own range of IPs it can allocate to your devices. It then takes requests from those devices and sends them out to the internet using it's own IP. When the data comes back, your router simply redirects it to your PC).

As such, your ISP (and any websites you visit) only ever see the IP of your router. Someone did find a way around this, but I don't believe it was ever reliable enough for blocking.

The best way for the ISP to implement any blocking system that I can think of is by using routers to do the blocking as I described above.

The accounts ID is good, but it would require one of the following:
  1. Manufacturers patch their OSes/Firmware to block web requests when needed: This would require Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Nintendo, all the various Linux manufacturers (while most people aren't going to be aware they are using Linux, they may be doing so if they are using software on another device to browse) and all the mobile manufacturers who offer WiFi capable phones to co-operate and patch their software.
  2. ISPs introduce a blocking system that works a little like Phorm. Imagine the outcry..
  3. The ISP insist you use their software. This would stop dodgy sites, but may not stop other sources, such as dodgy torrents.

It's also worth noting that the NSPCC agree with me that any such software (whereever it is installed) should not be considered a substitute for parental supervision.

---------- Post added at 17:10 ---------- Previous post was at 17:05 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by RizzyKing View Post
Another good start would be for the social networking sites to more strictly administer the content many of them have on them.
That, I agree with.
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