Not-for-profit LGfL is first educational technology company and internet service provider to work with City of London police to block known piracy sites
LGfL DigiSafe, safeguarding arm of not-for-profit internet service provider LGfL, is proud to announce that it is the first educational technology company and internet service provider to work with City of London Police to block all websites on the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit’s (PIPCU) Infringing Website List. The Infringing Website List (IWL) documents known piracy sites, which will now be blocked to LGfL’s 3,000 member schools across the UK. As well as preventing students from accessing inappropriate material, this move means that schools do not need to fear legal repercussions due to pirated material being accessed from the school site.
The PIPCU is a specialist unit within the City of London Police funded by the UK Government Intellectual Property Office. The unit is dedicated to tackling serious and organised intellectual property crime with a particular focus on offences committed using an online platform. Together with a number of organisations, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB UK) the PIPCU established the Infringing Website List to make it easier for individuals and organisations to exclude known, illegal sites from ad buying, selling or trading as well as to block websites included on the list.
LGfL DigiSafe is LGfL’s strategic response to the complex challenges faced by schools: a Centre of Excellence dedicated to engaging and collaborating with teachers and safeguarding leads as part of its service offering. Committed to protecting children and teachers, LGfL DigiSafe considers it its duty to work with stakeholders such as the PIPCU to allow schools to enjoy the internet without risk.
Online Safety and Safeguarding Manager at LGfL DigiSafe, Mark Bentley commented on the partnership, “LGfL DigiSafe is committed to partnering with relevant stakeholders in order to achieve our mission of saving schools money and keeping children safe. By working with City of London police to block its List of Infringing Websites to our community of over two million students we not only prevent children accessing inappropriate material but also provide reassurance to senior leaders that this illegal activity cannot be committed on the school site, meaning headteachers do not need to fear liability for copyright infringements”.
Detective Constable Steve Salway of the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) said, “The Infringing Website List (IWL) is the first of its kind to be developed by law enforcement and we are pleased that LGfL DigiSafe has taken it on. The online safety of school children is of paramount importance and our IWL is able to prevent them from viewing inappropriate material. It will also put a stop to them accessing copyright infringing content, leaving London schools with extra peace of mind.
“PIPCU is at the forefront of combating digital piracy. As part of our Operation Creative, City of London Police Detectives work with content owners and internet service providers to disrupt this criminal activity online. The disruption of internet infrastructure has seen over 1,800 illegal websites cease to operate, protecting UK consumers along with the preservation of the UK Creative industry.”
For more information on LGfL DigiSafe including a complete range of resources for online safety and safeguarding please visit onlinesafety.lgfl.net
To find out more about the PIPCU and the Infringing Websites List please visit iabuk.com/policy/infringing-website-list-iwl
