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UK Law - This site has been closed due to the harm

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Ian View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: UK Law - This site has been closed due to the harm
    Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 1:15pm

Firstly let me say this site is not going to be closed down but there a danger that there will be an issue in the not to distant future.

As you know the site is hosted in the United Kingdom and as such falls under the UK legal jurisdiction, a white paper was released a few weeks ago and as such is on the way to becoming law in the United Kingdom about harm and the UK government  is looking to have the legal right to block sites in the UK or shut them down if they are hosted in the UK if the site hosted in the UK if the UK government or someone within it deems the site to be of harm to “our way of life in the UK”.

This is a very broad definition that includes things like Child sexual exploitation and abuse and how can say no to that type of thing but it also includes items that are not so easily defined such as “inappropriate material” and while you may be thinking of things like “Terrorist content and activity”, “Extreme pornography” & “Revenge pornography” they are explicitly called out in the paper and “inappropriate material” has been discussed through out the process as anything the government deems to be so.

Many of the pro shooting sites will be caught up in the net and a couple of high profile sites are already looking to move out of the UK so they can still publish content via a VPN now while I think this is a little premature it will be come a issue for other smaller sites such as this one in the next couple of years.

While it will be annoying for people in the UK to use a VPN at least that is a way should a site hosted in the UK be taken down at the request of the UK authorities then none will be able to access the content.

 

So we need to discuss the future of this site the options ate the following:

  1. Do nothing – Keep the site where it is and hope that everything works it self out.
  2. Risk the loss of the forum – Leave things as they are and is the UK government take it down we all move on and get on with the rest of our lives.
  3. Move the forum – Move the forum to a non UK host.
  4. Someone else takes over the forum – I know I have not been active on the forum for a while so perhaps it is time to pass the hosting & forum over to a new custodian.
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AndyC View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AndyC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 4:02pm
Well, I'd suggest wait and see for now until the picture becomes clearer - but also backing up the forum database (perhaps on a regular schedule) so that it can be restored in a jiffy to an overseas host should it become necessary.

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Ian View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Ian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 5:48pm
Hi Andy,

The site is backuped daily along with the databases so the information will be safe.

Ian
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Road King View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Road King Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan 2020 at 6:34pm
Great to know Ian.

Charles
"Whoever said "the pen is mightier than the sword" obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
General Douglas MacArthur.
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Ian View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2023 at 4:37pm

Ok, this little nugget needs to come into the conversation again and I am sorry.

There is a bit of an issue with one area of the bill that will become law in the coming days / weeks and that is the phrase 'legal but harmful'.

While nothing we discuss in the AMT forum is illegal the UK government has an interesting view on what harmful is, while this is not defined currently it appears that the definition of harmful that is emerging is anything that is in direct contradiction to the stated position of the UK government.

The bill/law gives the UK government the ability in a supernational way to say to a service provider that the content must be taken down if a service is accessible in the UK.

Some internet companies are beginning to produce a tactic of not allowing access to a service from the UK, so they fall outside of the UK law as they are not providing the service to the UK (do not ask about VPNs).

This forum is hosted in the UK so if the government decided to, they could go to the hosting provider telling them to shut the forum down.

This is already having a chilling impact on what people are saying online in the UK.

So, I have two things to say.

1. Fight for your freedoms, this law is quite clever as it does not stop you from saying something but stop what you say being available for people to consume.

2. While this may not be an issue for today is it time for the forum to find a new home?

In the last couple of years, I have had a couple of visits from my local police “service” and they like to make a show of the information that they hold on you.

This forum, my AMT site and my personal website are all on the list, my social media and personal website have all been sanitised of anything that could be deemed as problematic but the information on this forum is not "mine" but belongs to its members.

While I doubt this is a problem for the next few months as they will have bigger fish to catch but they will eventually come for this forum as it would fall into the 'legal but harmful' the UK government has deemed the personal ownership of firearms as not something that is positive so the promotion/glorification of firearms ownership will not be tolerated.

I am already looking at hosting my AMT site outside of the UK and that is an easy ask (I will need a VPN to access and update it but that is not too much of an issue) but the forum is not at easy as it requires some specific server support.

So, does anyone have any options before I start looking?

Sorry to be a bummer on a Monday but it is what it is.

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