Lapsiporno.info
Encyclopedia
Lapsiporno.info is a Finnish
website
opposed to Internet censorship
. The website was founded and is maintained by software developer
, researcher
and Internet activist
Matti Nikki, who previously attracted international attention by analyzing Sony BMG's digital rights management rootkit that the company's products automatically installed on users' computers. The website focuses on the internet censorship in Finland, its effectiveness, and the issues and problems related to it.
By December 2007, following changes in Finnish legislation, Keskusrikospoliisi
, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), had compiled a secret blacklist of websites that it deemed to contain child pornography
and sent it to Finnish Internet service provider
s. Although the filtering is optional, Viestintäministeriö, the Ministry of Communications, has threatened to make it mandatory should service providers not implement it voluntarily. Nikki then wrote a program that scanned through adult websites to find out how the list works. By January 7, 2008, he had scanned through 100,000 websites and wrote on lapsiporno.info that of the 785 censored sites the large majority contained in fact legal pornography.
To prove his claims, Nikki published the results of his research on his website, including a list of the blocked addresses he found. Analyzing the address list, Nikki also noted that the first three Google
search results for "gay porn" are censored. Electronic Frontier Finland
(EFFI) have noticed that the blacklist includes non-pornographic websites also, including a Windows
advice forum, a computer repair service and the Internet Initiative Japan
server nn.iij4u.or.jp that, among others, hosts websites for a violin
factory, a doll
store and a hearing aid
manufacturer.
could not access the website, it was found that NBI had added lapsiporno.info to their filtering list. The police have refused to comment on which websites are censored and why, but chief inspector Lars Henriksson of the NBI stated that the list includes websites that contain at least one image that is deemed child porn as well as websites that contain a link to such site. The Finnish law allows the police to list sites that fulfill the two criteria of containing child pornographic material (defined as being images that depict children in sexual context) and that are hosted abroad. However, lapsiporno.info is hosted in Finland and does not contain any child pornographic material.
EFFI has demanded NBI to explain why a website that only contained articles and a list of blocked addresses was censored. Leena Romppainen, member of the board of EFFI, stated that "if the site really had some illegal content, wouldn't the correct solution be to take the site down and take the site owner to the court? The site is located on a Finnish server and the name of the site owner appears visibly on the root page of the site." Most of the censored websites on Nikki's list are located either in the United States
or in the European Union
, and Romppainen continued: "The local authorities have taken no action on these sites. Therefore, either the sites do not contain child pornography or the NBI has not informed the local authorities. Both of the alternatives are equally scary." Tero Tilus of EFFI stated that "some faceless official decides which sites the Finns may not see, and this decision cannot be appealed. Now he has apparently decided that net filtering may not be criticised."
Jyrki Kasvi
, member of Finnish Parliament, also questioned the legality of censoring lapsiporno.info, noting that according to Finnish law, only websites hosted outside Finland can be added to the filtering list, and reminded that the Minister of Transport and Communications, Susanna Huovinen
, who lobbied for the law, had emphasized openness and transparency. EFFI and Kasvi have also voiced concerns about attempts to expand the Internet censorship beyond child pornography, following propositions in the media to censor online gambling
websites.
Nikki believes that one of the reasons leading to his website being blacklisted was a function that he added to his address list, which simply turned a list of static text into clickable link
s. He states that he had already known that the police are adding websites to the filtering list based on this, and said that he will not remove the link functionality, because there is nothing illegal about it. On his website, Nikki has also reminded that the Internet filtering system was originally implemented despite University of Turku
's Faculty of Law's statement that the system would be against the Constitution of Finland
.
The content of lapsiporno.info was quickly mirrored to other servers, and Nikki has helped this copying by releasing the website content under the Creative Commons
license CC-by-nc-sa
. On February 14, computer magazine Tietokone reported on its website that NBI's actions had caused several complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman
as well as to the Office of the Chancellor of Justice
. Nikki was questioned by the police, suspected of aiding in distribution of a picture offending sexual morality. These charges were later dropped, but the site still remains censored.
By February 19, a group of Finns had gone through Nikki's list of 1047 censored websites and published their research, according to which nine of the sites contained child pornography, nine were unrelated to pornography, 28 had content hard to categorize as legal or illegal, 46 were (legal) child modeling
sites and 879 contained only legal pornography.
In May 2011, three years after Nikki's site was blacklisted, the administrative court of Helsinki ruled in favor of Nikki against blacklisting his website. According to the court, the law could only be used to block access to foreign websites. Both Nikki and NBI said they were deliberating on filing an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court
. Nikki was dissatisfied with the court's decision to not cover his legal fees.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
opposed to Internet censorship
Internet censorship
Internet censorship is the control or suppression of the publishing of, or access to information on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations either at the behest of government or on their own initiative...
. The website was founded and is maintained by software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
, researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
and Internet activist
Internet activism
Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as e-mail, the World Wide Web, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster communications by citizen movements and the delivery of local information to a large audience...
Matti Nikki, who previously attracted international attention by analyzing Sony BMG's digital rights management rootkit that the company's products automatically installed on users' computers. The website focuses on the internet censorship in Finland, its effectiveness, and the issues and problems related to it.
By December 2007, following changes in Finnish legislation, Keskusrikospoliisi
Keskusrikospoliisi
Keskusrikospoliisi located in the city of Vantaa is a division of Finland's national police. Literally Keskusrikospoliisi/Centralkriminalpolisen would be translated as "Central Criminal Police", which might be a more descriptive name for the entity, as its primary mission is to fight against...
, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), had compiled a secret blacklist of websites that it deemed to contain child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
and sent it to Finnish Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s. Although the filtering is optional, Viestintäministeriö, the Ministry of Communications, has threatened to make it mandatory should service providers not implement it voluntarily. Nikki then wrote a program that scanned through adult websites to find out how the list works. By January 7, 2008, he had scanned through 100,000 websites and wrote on lapsiporno.info that of the 785 censored sites the large majority contained in fact legal pornography.
To prove his claims, Nikki published the results of his research on his website, including a list of the blocked addresses he found. Analyzing the address list, Nikki also noted that the first three Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
search results for "gay porn" are censored. Electronic Frontier Finland
Electronic Frontier Finland
Electronic Frontier Finland or Effi is a Finnish on-line civil rights organization founded in 2001 and had over 1500 members in 2010. While not formally affiliated with the U.S.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, the two organizations share many of their goals...
(EFFI) have noticed that the blacklist includes non-pornographic websites also, including a Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
advice forum, a computer repair service and the Internet Initiative Japan
Internet Initiative Japan
is a telecommunications company based in Tokyo, Japan. Established on December 3, 1992, it employs 1,715 people and has a capitalization of ￥14,295,000,000. They provide internet connectivity and network-related services, network systems construction, operation and maintenance, development and...
server nn.iij4u.or.jp that, among others, hosts websites for a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
factory, a doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
store and a hearing aid
Hearing aid
A hearing aid is an electroacoustic device which typically fits in or behind the wearer's ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sound for the wearer. Earlier devices, known as "ear trumpets" or "ear horns", were passive funnel-like amplification cones designed to gather sound energy and...
manufacturer.
Censored by the Finnish police
On February 12, 2008, after customers of the finnish ISP ElisaElisa Oyj
Elisa Oyj is a Finnish telecommunications company founded in 1882 that was known until July 2000 as HPY. Elisa Oyj employs about 3000 people and in 2007 had revenue of about €1.57 billion...
could not access the website, it was found that NBI had added lapsiporno.info to their filtering list. The police have refused to comment on which websites are censored and why, but chief inspector Lars Henriksson of the NBI stated that the list includes websites that contain at least one image that is deemed child porn as well as websites that contain a link to such site. The Finnish law allows the police to list sites that fulfill the two criteria of containing child pornographic material (defined as being images that depict children in sexual context) and that are hosted abroad. However, lapsiporno.info is hosted in Finland and does not contain any child pornographic material.
EFFI has demanded NBI to explain why a website that only contained articles and a list of blocked addresses was censored. Leena Romppainen, member of the board of EFFI, stated that "if the site really had some illegal content, wouldn't the correct solution be to take the site down and take the site owner to the court? The site is located on a Finnish server and the name of the site owner appears visibly on the root page of the site." Most of the censored websites on Nikki's list are located either in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, and Romppainen continued: "The local authorities have taken no action on these sites. Therefore, either the sites do not contain child pornography or the NBI has not informed the local authorities. Both of the alternatives are equally scary." Tero Tilus of EFFI stated that "some faceless official decides which sites the Finns may not see, and this decision cannot be appealed. Now he has apparently decided that net filtering may not be criticised."
Jyrki Kasvi
Jyrki Kasvi
Jyrki Jouko Juhani Kasvi is a Finnish politician. He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League. In the Parliament he was most active in the Committee for the Future, which he represented in the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment network , related to...
, member of Finnish Parliament, also questioned the legality of censoring lapsiporno.info, noting that according to Finnish law, only websites hosted outside Finland can be added to the filtering list, and reminded that the Minister of Transport and Communications, Susanna Huovinen
Susanna Huovinen
Krista Anri Susanna Huovinen is a Finnish politician of the Social Democratic Party and a former minister.Huovinen was elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1999 from Central Finland and she was deputy chairman of Social Democratic parliamentary group from 2003 to 2005, when she was elected to the...
, who lobbied for the law, had emphasized openness and transparency. EFFI and Kasvi have also voiced concerns about attempts to expand the Internet censorship beyond child pornography, following propositions in the media to censor online gambling
Online gambling
Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
websites.
Nikki believes that one of the reasons leading to his website being blacklisted was a function that he added to his address list, which simply turned a list of static text into clickable link
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s. He states that he had already known that the police are adding websites to the filtering list based on this, and said that he will not remove the link functionality, because there is nothing illegal about it. On his website, Nikki has also reminded that the Internet filtering system was originally implemented despite University of Turku
University of Turku
The University of Turku , located in Turku in southwestern Finland, is the second largest university in the country as measured by student enrollment, after University of Helsinki. It was established in 1920 and also has faculties at Rauma, Pori and Salo...
's Faculty of Law's statement that the system would be against the Constitution of Finland
Constitution of Finland
The Constitution of Finland is the supreme source of national law of Finland. It defines the basis, structures and organisation of government, the relationship between the different constitutional organs, and lays out the fundamental rights of Finnish citizens...
.
The content of lapsiporno.info was quickly mirrored to other servers, and Nikki has helped this copying by releasing the website content under the Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
license CC-by-nc-sa
Share-alike
Share-Alike is a descriptive term used in the Creative Commons project for copyright licenses which include certain copyleft provisions. The Share-Alike license comes in two varieties, CC-BY-SA and CC-BY-NC-SA.-Share-alike license types:...
. On February 14, computer magazine Tietokone reported on its website that NBI's actions had caused several complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman
Parliamentary Ombudsman
The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the principal ombudsman authority in Finland, in Sweden and Iceland, charged with the supervision of the public authorities...
as well as to the Office of the Chancellor of Justice
Chancellor of Justice of Finland
The Chancellor of Justice of Finland is a Finnish government official who supervises authorities' compliance with the law and advances legal protection of Finnish citizens...
. Nikki was questioned by the police, suspected of aiding in distribution of a picture offending sexual morality. These charges were later dropped, but the site still remains censored.
By February 19, a group of Finns had gone through Nikki's list of 1047 censored websites and published their research, according to which nine of the sites contained child pornography, nine were unrelated to pornography, 28 had content hard to categorize as legal or illegal, 46 were (legal) child modeling
Child modeling (erotic)
Child erotica refers to any non-nude or semi-nude photographs and videos of children in sexually suggestive poses, and is also defined as any material relating to children that is used by any individuals for sexual purposes...
sites and 879 contained only legal pornography.
In May 2011, three years after Nikki's site was blacklisted, the administrative court of Helsinki ruled in favor of Nikki against blacklisting his website. According to the court, the law could only be used to block access to foreign websites. Both Nikki and NBI said they were deliberating on filing an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court
Supreme Administrative Court of Finland
The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland is the highest court in the Finnish administrative court system, parallel to the Supreme Court of Finland. Its jurisdiction covers the legality of the decisions of government officials, and its decisions are final...
. Nikki was dissatisfied with the court's decision to not cover his legal fees.
Status of lapsiporno.info with Finnish Internet service providers
| Service provider | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Online | 24 Online's CEO has stated that it is not their job to limit their customers' use of the Internet. | |
| Anvia Former; Vaasan Läänin Puhelin | ||
| DNA | ||
| Elisa Elisa Oyj Elisa Oyj is a Finnish telecommunications company founded in 1882 that was known until July 2000 as HPY. Elisa Oyj employs about 3000 people and in 2007 had revenue of about €1.57 billion... |
Tested with consumer ADSL on Sun 23 August 2009. | |
| FUNET FUNET FUNET is the Finnish University and Research Network, a backbone network providing Internet connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities. It is governed by the state-owned CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. The FUNET project started in December 1983 and... |
||
| GoHome | ||
| Kaisanet Oy | ||
| Kymen Puhelin | ||
| Mikkelin Puhelin | ||
| Netplaza | ||
| Netsonic | ||
| Nebula | Tested with consumer ADSL on Sun 23 November 2008. | |
| Päijät-Hämeen Puhelin | Tested with consumer ADSL on Sat 21 June 2008. | |
| Salon Seudun Puhelin | SSP's infosite hangs IE. | |
| Saunalahti Saunalahti Saunalahti is a Finnish mobile phone operator and an internet service provider. The company was founded 1998 when three middle-sized internet operators merged. The company is now owned by Elisa.... |
Censored in some regions | Saunalahti is owned by Elisa. |
| TeliaSonera TeliaSonera TeliaSonera AB is the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland. The company has operations in other countries in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of 150 million mobile customers... |
Will implement a voluntary URL-based censorship only in their proxy server. | |
| TNNet | ||
| Welho | Provides a voluntary filtering | Provides separate proxy for filtering. |
| Telekarelia | ||
External links
- Lapsiporno.info
- Suodatuslista sisällön kera - analysis of the filtering list
- EDRi: Finnish ISPs must voluntarily block access
- EFFI: Finnish Internet censorship
- Wikileaks: 797 domains on Finnish Internet censorship list, including censorship critic, 2008
- The Finnish law on filtering child pornography (in Swedish), Finlex
- The proposition and related documents (in Finnish), Parliament of FinlandParliament of FinlandThe Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...