Yesterday, I posted on UK action to block a Wikipedia page because it includes an image from a 1970’s Scorpions album cover that the Internet Watch Foundation has deemed child pornography. IWF has now issued a statement:
A Wikipedia web page, was reported through the IWF’s online reporting mechanism in December 2008. As with all child sexual abuse reports received by our Hotline analysts, the image was assessed according to the UK Sentencing Guidelines Council (page 109). The content was considered to be a potentially illegal indecent image of a child under the age of 18, but hosted outside the UK. The IWF does not issue takedown notices to ISPs or hosting companies outside the UK, but we did advise one of our partner Hotlines abroad and our law enforcement partner agency of our assessment.
The specific URL (individual webpage) was then added to the list provided to ISPs and other companies in the online sector to protect their customers from inadvertent exposure to a potentially illegal indecent image of a child.
As I noted yesterday, you can buy this album from Amazon.co.uk (and presumably in the High Street) with original cover art. No word on whether PC Plod plans to take action (though presumably he’s still too busy arresting MPs for grooming fresh-faced civil servants) – but heavy metal fans are advised to throw out any potentially offensive vinyl (all of it, to be safe)…
