Advocating Internet control in the 'free world'

UK-based children's organization calls for int'l cooperation in Internet content control

The international community needs to cooperate more closely to regulate Internet contents, an official from a U.K.-based children's organization said Tuesday.

"As more and more contents such as games go online, international cooperation around Internet material is going to become a much bigger issue," said John Carr, secretary of the Children's Charities Coalition for Internet Safety.

He was in Seoul this week to speak at an international conference under the theme of "Paradigm Change in Content Regulation and Future Challenges," hosted by the Korea Communications Standards Commission.

"International institutions need to be united to press on the world's Internet and high-tech companies to take responsibility for ensuring children's safety online," Carr said.

"So far, to the extent that it has worked at all, international cooperation has only worked on a large scale in relation to child pornography. Even then, the number of countries involved is limited."


Berlusconi plans to use G8 presidency to "regulate the Internet"

Italian president and media baron Silvio Berlusconi said today that he would use his country's imminent presidency of the G8 group to push for an international agreement to "regulate the internet."

Speaking to Italian postal workers, Reuters reports Berlusconi said: "The G8 has as its task the regulation of financial markets... I think the next G8 can bring to the table a proposal for a regulation of the internet." Click here to find out more!

Italy's G8 presidency begins on January 1. The role is taken by each of the group's members in rotation. The holder country is responsible for organising and hosting the G8's meetings and setting the agenda. Italy's last G8 presidency in 2001, also under Berlusconi, was marred by riots at the annual meeting in Genoa.

Berlusconi didn't explain what he meant by "regulate the internet", but the mere mention of it has prompted dismay among Italian commentators. Berlusconi owns swathes of the Italian mass media...


New Internet censorship plan rattles public

A pilot test of the Rudd Government’s plan for mandatory Internet filtering will begin on Christmas Eve. However, an Opposition movement, including Internet service providers and technical experts, have voiced their concerns about the effects of the plan on civil liberties.

The cyber-safety plan will use two filters, one of which is optional and aims to protect Australian children from the dangers of the Internet. The other filter will be mandatory and will also block “unwanted content”, a category which is not yet defined for the public.

Supporters of the plan believe that the Government has an obligation to protect children. The Australian Christian Lobby, Family First Senator Steve Fielding and Independent Nick Xenophon are advocates for the filtering.

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) blacklist stands at 1300 websites. Most of these contain child pornography, violence, terrorist-related and other illegal content.

Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, wants to add another 10,000 to the list, including sites about euthanasia, anorexia and online gambling.

The list of banned websites will not be made publicly available.

The media has compared the censorship plan to China’s Great Firewall. At present, China, Burma, Iran and Saudi Arabia are some of the countries that have mandatory Internet censorship.

“The main similarity [with China] is that it’s a secret [blacklist] that you can’t opt out of,” said Ms Kelareva.

Countries such as the UK and Canada currently have optional filtering aimed at preventing accidental access.

The issue has inspired some Australians to join activist groups such as AAIC, which formed in November. Public demonstrations will take place on December 13 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Adelaide...