Efforts to filter access to red light district on the Internet were given up by the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin. He has been trying hard to implement policy on free internet for quite some time now.
Call by some to restrict internet access to undesirable material by minors was vehemently opposed by critics. They did not support implementation of policy and restrictions on free Internet.
Following this, Martin has given the green signal to allow for free browsing of the red light district on the Internet which includes offensive materials including pornography. He confirmed in an interview with Ars Technica, the tech blog that there will no longer be any need for service providers who are licensed partners to filter content on the Internet. He also added that the new version of this plan is already under circulation.
The coming months will see FCC auctioning the 2.1 GHz spectrum’s 25 MHz portion. The offer will entail those who buy a piece of this spectrum will offer free internet service on a part of it. Previously stipulated condition included filtering of free service. The aim of this scheme is to offer internet access service free to those who cannot afford to pay for it.
Kevin Martin, the chairman had to do an about turn on his proposal after opposition from civil liberties group. He added that though initially he was for filtering of content backed by support from advocates of public interest, a lot of people were concerned about the filtering.
These open access provisions which would allow the service to provide for connection with any wireless device were praised by these groups.