In a clever suggested homage to Ray Bradbury and a terrifying nod to present and pending legislation, a new code to reflect censorship may be added to the existing list of internet error codes.
Ray Bradbury’s fiction looks set to enter the structure of the internet, after a software developer has proposed a new HTTP status code inspired by Fahrenheit 451.
Tim Bray, a fan of Bradbury’s writing, is recommending to the Internet Engineering Task Force, which governs such choices, that when access to a website is denied for legal reasons the user is given the status code 451.
Though it’s uncertain if Bradbury himself would have approved of immortalizing his work in the internet, there are definitely legislative actions in the works that may implement Bradbury’s dystopian nightmare on the web. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information and ways to get involved in the fight against censorship. Kidspeak is a more child-friendly source of information and Judy Blume has resources for classroom use.
