Europe elbows Internet content 'blocking'

'The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to oppose the use of "blocking" as a way of regulating content on the Internet.

'The vote (460 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstentions) this morning means that ISPs will not be forced to restrict access to Web sites....

'[Ms Gosling] added that blocking is "technically difficult, democratically questionable and undoubtedly inefficient" and believes that there are far better ways to deal with content issues, such as using special hotlines and ratings systems.'