August 25, 2005
German Level 3 and Jugendschutz Censor Ogrish.com
To whom it may concern,
It has recently come to our attention that several thousand European visitors have been denied access to Ogrish.com and we've received many complaints by visitors worried that we are blocking them.
Initially, we believed this to be due to a temporary technical problem, however now—three weeks later—Ogrish.com is still blocked. After thorough investigation, we concluded that a German organization called
"Jugendschutz.net" has been pressuring the American IP Carrier Level3 to block access to the Ogrish.com IP. Without an official legal order Level3 Germany went ahead with the block.
Feel free to email Level3 at
abuse@level3.com or give them a call regarding this issue.
Not only are many German ISPs affected by this unjust action, but ISPs in other European countries (who have nothing to do with the German legal system), such as Holland, France and Poland, are also being denied access because of this German block.
This action is outright censorship and is not justified. Everything that can be seen on Ogrish.com is included in everyday life—it's grim reality presented in an unbiased way. Nobody is forced to look at this material and to discourage accidental viewing by sensitive or underage visitors, we have established a warning and age verification page for first time visitors. We may even consider a German-language warning page. However, please remember that limiting underage access to adult material is the responsibility of parents—and there's sufficient software to aid parents in this endeavor.
With the nature of the Internet and free speech, it is up to the population to decide whether or not to visit Ogrish.com—the government should not make that decision for them.
Germany is trying very hard to shut us down and the "Jugendschutz.net" organization previously contacted our advertisers and payment systems to try to do as much damage as possible.
Obviously we will fight against these ridiculous actions.
Sincerely,
Ogrish.com
