In May of this year, it came to my attention – via a posting in the Usenet group uk.legal – that on the pretext of combatting terrorism, the Metropolitan Police were endeavouring to impose a blanket censorship on Internet Cafés in Central London. With their de rigueur breathtaking arrogance they printed a poster for distribution to said premises including, it would appear, those in the City of London (which has its own police force) which the owners of these premises are expected to display. Undoubtedly this “scheme” will shortly be extended to the rest of the country.
The wording of this poster is drafted in such wide, all-encompassing terms that if applied to the letter it could criminalise virtually every casual Internet user. On May 10, I wrote to the Police Commissioner requesting clarification. The first link below leads to a scan of the notice; the second to my letter to the Commissioner; the third to the vacuous and totally inadequate response.
Metropolitan Police Internet Café poster, (JPG format)
Letter to the Police Commissioner, May 10, 2010
Response from the Metropolitan Police, May 20, 2010 (PDF)
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