Blocking Bad Internet Content – do it at the DNS
[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]On June 9th, Ethiopia became the latest nation state to move to legislate on Internet content. I, for one, am sold on the idea of blocking bad internet content, especially illegal content. Give organisations, institutions and parents control over what internet content comes through their networks. It is empowering. It is also clear that many blanket content category bans can take you towards censorship of free speech . Did anyone follow the Australian experience over the last 8 years ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Australia[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”3229″ img_size=”500×300″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]But this is a technology blog. So in Ethiopia, they will surely now be debating how to achieve this technically. Two options will be discussed – to block it on the device or block it beforehand – in the DNS. We may be biased, but in our opinion there is usually only one winner in such a debate – DNS.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Every internet transaction has to be resolved by DNS – it’s the control point for the internet. It’s easy to maintain whitelists, blacklists and regulatory compliance at the DNS. It is fast with low latency; it cannot be easily bypassed; and it requires nothing to be installed on the device so there are no user dependencies.
Blocking on the PC/device involves use of technology that inevitably slows performance, needs to be maintained across the enterprise and then there is the BYOD complication.
I like the elegance of DNS-based ‘decision making’. It can be used for multiple roles in content management, authentication and user protection.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”2229″ img_size=”300×300″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
