Several UK Internet providers have blocked access to the Wikipedia article 'Virgin Killer', an entry about the 1976 album by the Scorpions, after being alerted to potentially illegal content. The controversial album cover of Virgin Killer depicted a naked girl obscured by a window-shattering effect, and the use of the image in the Wikipedia entry caused the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to notify the service providers of the possibly illegal behavior.
The BBC reports that IFW alerted the Internet providers based on a "potentially illegal child sexual abuse image." The IWF is a UK hotline for reporting such content hosted both inside and outside of the UK.
In a subsequent press release, Wikimedia Foundation's General Counsel, Mike Godwin, said, "We have no reason to believe the article, or the image contained in the article, has been held to be illegal in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world. We believe it's worth noting that the image is currently visible on Amazon, where the album can be freely purchased by UK residents. It is available on thousands of websites that are accessible to the UK public."
A quick search of Amazon's UK site shows an alternative version of both the Virgin Killer album cover and the In Trance/Virgin Killer cover, though the US version of Amazon does show a similar cover on the In Trance/Virgin Killer album.
I hope it’s not too off-topic to note here that (a) we’re an educational charity (b) we live off public donations (c) we have a funding drive on right now
We have no money to spend on expensive legal assistance on issues like this. (We do have Mike Godwin, the world’s most famous Internet lawyer, as our general counsel, which is just unbelievably cool and very effective.) So all we have is people talking about these issues and giving us their spare bucks to keep the sites running. Thank you
I’m not normally in favour of censorship but that image is definitely NOT alright. Even if it’s not strictly illegal the girl portrayed is far too young to be depicted in that way.
Nudity is NOT pornography, regardless of age. Sexual content is required. Just because someone, somewhere, sometime now or in the future might be sexually aroused by a picture is NOT cause to ban or censor it. Just for the record, this ‘poor, abused innocent’ is now over forty. Wonder what she thinks, not that it matters. “The Law is the Law.” (Judge Dread) If we keep going, no depiction of anyone under 18 will be allowed in any media (print, photo or video). What a not-so-brave new world.