Apparently enamored with Australia's plan to filter the Internet of all its naughty bits, Britain's culture secretary Andy Burnham now says the country is exploring several ways to protect children from boobies and other Internet menaces. According to Burham, the country would like to work with the United States to create a film-style rating system for websites. They're also interested in forcing ISPs to offer services where the only sites accessible are those deemed suitable for children. An excerpt from Burham's comments speaks volumes:Earlier this year a UK lawmaker proposed "Radical Islam" filters. Like all such plans, this raises the question of who dictates what gets censored, opening the door to future censorship that extends beyond the usual suspects (piracy, child porn). This is of course before you discuss the fact that the nature of the Internet and human ingenuity usually results in such efforts failing completely, but not before ample money and resources have been wasted pursuing them.

A less expensive option for the nations of the world would be better parenting. Moving your child's PC out of the bedroom and into an area where you watch them will likely be far more effective than multi-million dollar filtering efforts designed by politicians.