Error 451: The new HTTP code for censorship

If you wish to know how the Internet is restricted by governments, the new 451 protocol will tell you.

Governments will not always be able to disguise which content they restrict across the Web thanks to a new error code which will warn users of content restricted through censorship.

On Friday, the group responsible for Internet standards, the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), approved a new HTTP code to differentiate between Web pages which cannot be shown for technical reasons and others which are unavailable for non-technical reasons, such as governmental censorship.

Status codes, available within the 100s to 500s, are most commonly encountered when something goes wrong -- such as a server downtime, for example, which prevents a user from accessing a Web page. The common 404 error tells users a page has not been found, but now 451 is coming into its own as a way to track other restrictions.

Online censorship is on the rise. Governments in the European bloc force ISPs to restrict access to websites linking to pirated content, China has its ever-famous "Great Firewall" which heavily restricts the Web, and countries including Russia and South Korea are also cracking down on access.

It isn't always easy to work out whether a Web page is down because of technical reasons or governmental meddling. However, a new Internet protocol could change that.

More: http://www.zdnet.com/article/error-4...or-censorship/