tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33647447.post6037033654269631709..comments2023-07-13T00:20:57.450+01:00Comments on The trawler Gaul: gadflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852087594641044352noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33647447.post-81200614218269871432007-08-30T10:46:00.000+01:002007-08-30T10:46:00.000+01:00I’ve also heard that certain UK booksellers are no...I’ve also heard that certain UK booksellers are now filtering out blogsites to prevent their employees from accessing ‘inappropriate web content’. <BR/><BR/>(!!!)gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12852087594641044352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33647447.post-15641141445053169792007-08-27T18:01:00.000+01:002007-08-27T18:01:00.000+01:00Ian,Thanks for your recent comments and for the ar...Ian,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your recent comments and for the articles on your blog, which I always read with interest.<BR/><BR/>The filtering of the blogspot sites by government bodies is not, I hope, a generalised phenomenon. <BR/>As far as I am aware, the Maritime & Coastguards Agency and its parent: the Department for Transport have only recently introduced this ban. <BR/>As I mentioned in my post, the Treasury Solicitor also informed me, a while ago, of similar problems at his end which, I must admit, I didn’t treat very seriously at the time. <BR/><BR/>The MCA assured me last week that “there is no specific blocking of this particular website” and stated that “like many other organisations” it did not permit access to any sites categorised as ‘social networking’. A blogspot site, it was also claimed, “falls into that definition through its own self-categorisation”. (?!) <BR/>As such, Ian Dale’s diary, Sandra Gidley’s blog etc. etc., all hosted by Blogger, can no longer be viewed. Blogs published on different systems are, however, still accessible. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I don’t think that the way these institutions filter web content is decided by their respective IT departments, but by policy makers higher up the hierarchy scale.<BR/><BR/>Finally, the fact that this ban may not be generalised is hardly any consolation: if some parts of the government can do it, it may soon become the norm. (After all, one would expect consistent IT policies across government departments.)gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12852087594641044352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33647447.post-89287744693570154662007-08-27T03:42:00.000+01:002007-08-27T03:42:00.000+01:00It would appear that it is more akin to selective ...It would appear that it is more akin to selective censorship.<BR/><BR/>Social networking is a completely different media to blogging which the government is totally aware of.<BR/><BR/>If this ban is generalised, which I doubt (as I get an awful lot of hits, as do other blogs, from gsi.gov.uk, mod, parliament and other government web sites), then it would mean that they are indeed further distancing government from the public.<BR/><BR/>Parliament paid out taxpayer money so that MP's could join in the blog community, are these sites to be blocked also?<BR/><BR/>I believe that this selective censorship is possibly a degree of proof that you must be hitting the right nails on the head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com