Leaked letter shows ISPs and government at war

A letter sent to the UK's four leading Internet service providers from the government has made them very cross indeed. The letter comes from the UK Department for Education but it sets out a list of demands from Downing Street, with the stated aim of allowing the prime minister to make an announcement shortly.

The companies are asked, among other things, for a commitment to fund an "awareness campaign" for parents. They're not particularly happy about promising cash for what the letter concedes is an "unknown campaign" but it's the next item on the menu which is the source of most of their anger. This asks them to change the language they are using to describe the net safety filters they will be offering to internet users. Instead of talking of "active choice +", they are urged to use the term default-on. The letter says this can be done "without changing what you're offering." A person at one ISP told me the request was "staggering - asking us to market active choice as default-on is both misleading and potentially harmful."