SimpleSimon Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hi all My network provider (Three, but I know this has also affected others) turned on my "adult content" filters today. I didn't find out until I tried to view my local gun shop website. It, and several other gun/shooting sites had all been blocked. Now it was no problem, I just disabled the filter on my account. But it didn't sit well with me. Legal gun ownership and shooting pursuits are NOT "adult content" (even by Three's own definition which I found on their website). So I sent them the following email: "I would like to raise a concern regarding the workings of your adult content filter. The filter seems to target several websites with content relating to the legal ownership and use of firearms for sporting purposes, pest control, and competition. Clearly this content does not fall within your own description of "violent, gory, sexually explicit or drug-related" and I would be interested to hear to resoning behind Three's corporate decision to block content of this nature from viewing by under-18s. The minimum age to be granted a firearms certificate ("licence") in the UK is 14. There is NO minimum age for the grant of a shotgun certificate. Legal shooting activities do not promote violence, and in fact potential firearms certificate holders are subject to a strict character referencing, background check and interview process, making us among the most law-abiding and heavily regulated citizens. Furthermore, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation operates a Young Shots program aimed specifically at promoting the sport of shooting to a younger demographic. I myself first learned the basics of riflemanship in the cadet organisation from the age of 14. As you can tell, shooting sports and firearms ownership are not restricted to over 18s, either by law or by governing bodies of the various target sports. Please, therefore, give serious consideration to the motives behind blocking such content. Yours faithfully, (Simple Simon)" I'm interested to see what response I get (probably some rubbish to placate me) but I'm fully prepared to keep pushing the issue. Lumping shooting in with hate crime, porn and drug abuse is totally out of order and reflects on a very negative view of field and target sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Good for you, and an excellently worded email. This is what I like to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie to this Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 There are some schools, that teach shooting and wilderness skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Well done Simon as Scully says, challenge them and hold them to account. Will be interesting to see what your reply is ? atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davyo Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Its happening all over, my works department have blocked any sites that advertise or sell guns.Still manage to get on PW though at lunch time.Cant get Hunting life forum though (pobably the word 'Hunting') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Same thing at a few wi-fi providers. McDonalds used to be bad, Ikea still blocks a few sites. They ALL need suitable emails. Sent a few in the past where I find such blocks. Either they unblock 100% inoffensive legitimate sites, or they lose customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Pigeon Watch sounds innocent enough, more like a pigeon fanciers site. Unless the ones in charge of censorship check it out it usually passes work based filters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Good on you for taking the time to stand up for our sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBeaky Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Pigeon Watch sounds innocent enough, more like a pigeon fanciers site. Unless the ones in charge of censorship check it out it usually passes work based filters.Doesn't pass ours 😬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Asda Tesco were kind of doing this a while ago with the shooting Mags up high like they were loaded or fhm. Davyo what's the hunting life forum like similar to this?? Cheers mice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davyo Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Asda Tesco were kind of doing this a while ago with the shooting Mags up high like they were loaded or fhm. Davyo what's the hunting life forum like similar to this?? Cheers mice It ok, loads of additional areas but just no where near as good as PW. If just doesn't have those characters to make it really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontastic Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 I'm also with three and yes for some reason some shooting sites are blocked but I can access far more than are blocked so hardly a conspiracy by the software programmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDS Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 Talktalk blocks gunsamerica.com and i have use a proxy to view Strangely it allows gunbroker.com , a very similar site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemini52 Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 I an with sky,they done the same to me,i just turned it off,but yes its not the point,feel like we are treated like children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 The filtering is supposed to help control explicit content but the people who set the filters do so on a mostly arbitrary basis.... you shouldn't have to enable explicit content to view material about Olympic sports......(broadcast pre water shed) should you that's totally different to explicit material but gory, violent is totally subjective Well done on the email please let us know if you get a response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFC Posted March 24, 2017 Report Share Posted March 24, 2017 Asda Tesco were kind of doing this a while ago with the shooting Mags up high like they were loaded or fhm. Davyo what's the hunting life forum like similar to this?? Cheers mice I challenged my local WH Smith about this when they made the decision to put shooting mags on the top shelf along with porn. I pointed out that loads of women's magazines with headlines such as "My father raped me" and "Beaten to a pulp", next to a photo of a woman with her face smashed up, were situated on lower shelves right next the children's comics. The reply I got was that it was down to 'market forces and customer choice'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Merkel Posted March 25, 2017 Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 This does seem to be something new Sky Shield has just blocked me from a UK website that sells aftermarket chokes, I have ordered chokes from this site before with no issues. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 25, 2017 Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 It should be worth mentioning this to BASC, I seem to remember they were quite active over the shooting magazine fiasco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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