QuickLinks - Content regulation

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Issue no. 149 - 26 March 2000

• China - Web Threatens Chinese Gov't (AP)
  The Internet apparently has become a threat to the Chinese government's policies of suppressing press freedoms, according to "Attacks on the Press in 1999," an annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

• UK - Exposed: where child porn lurks on the Net (Observer)
  Worries about child sex led to the creation of a watchdog by Internet service providers. Demon is a member, so why can its subscribers still find paedophile images? see also IWF Responds to the Observer "Exposure" (Internet Watch Foundation Press release).

Issue no. 148 - 18 March 2000

• Date Rape Site Taken Down (Wired)
  A Web site advocating date rape was shut down following complaints from outraged feminists. Web hosting company MyInternet.com deactivated Daterape.org, which described itself as "a one-stop shop for all your date rape needs."

• Geographic Screening (Slashdot)
  Geographic screening - the restriction of Net access by geography - is the latest nightmare stemming from the culture wars launched by the music and movie industries against a free Internet. This time the firewalls aren't coming from the People's Republic of China, but out of Canada.

• Germany - Justizministerium will Sex im Internet bekämpfen (tecChannel.de)
  Das Bundesjustizministerium will Sex-Shows im Internet bekämpfen. Bisher sei nur die Verbreitung pornografischer Darbietungen durch den Rundfunk mit Strafe bedroht, nicht aber eine Echtzeitübertragung per Internet. Auch eine bessere Bekämpfung von Kinderpornografie ist geplant.

• USA - Libraries Accused of Suppressing Net Porn Data (Newsbytes)
  The conservative Family Research Council (FRC) will release a report contending that the American Library Association (ALA) has repeatedly ducked information requests pertaining about the availability of pornography on library computers.

• USA - Pastor accused of running smut site (AP)
  A Roman Catholic priest accused of launching a sexually explicit Web site for gay priests has been sent to an out-of-state program to decide if he wants to remain in the priesthood.

Issue no. 147 - 11 March 2000

• USA - Judge Says School May Have Overreacted to Student's Site (New York Times)
  In an important case testing the limits of the online free speech rights of students, a federal judge in Seattle has ordered a school district to temporarily refrain from punishing a student who created an "unofficial" Web site for his school.

Issue no. 146 - 4 March 2000

• Malaysia sends conflicting signals on Internet (Reuters)
  Malaysia's government came under pressure to spell out its policy on regulating the Internet after conflicting statements on restrictions on an opposition newspaper on the Web came from four different departements.

• USA - Confronting Media Violence (Violence Studies Program)
  Conference at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia March 2, 2000. The Impact of Media Violence on Violent Behaviour and Efforts to Address Media Violence.

Issue no. 145 - 26 February 2000

• Australia - Laws fail to block Net porn (Fairfax IT)
  A newsgroup posting has been classified as banned material by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. The Australian Broadcasting Authority says it has advised approved Internet filter makers that the portion of the Dejanews archive Web server containing the posting is "refused classification" and should be blocked.

Issue no. 144 - 19 February 2000

• Australia Using Law to Go After Objectionable Sites (New York Times)
  Australian legislation intended to restrict access to online pornography took effect on Jan. 1, and, slowly but surely, Web pages that officials deem objectionable are disappearing from their Australian Internet hosts.

Issue no. 143 - 12 February 2000

• USA - Making a case for Net porn debate (Inter@ctive Week)
  To provide a foundation for national debates about Internet pornography, the National Research Council is setting up a committee charged with examining the divisive issue during public hearings around the country. see Tools and Strategies for Protecting Kids from Pornography and Their Applicability to Other Inappropriate Internet Content .

Issue no. 142 - 5 February 2000

• China - Investors Ask if Beijing Can Enforce All Its New Internet Rules (New York Times)
  The Beijing government announced a raft of new regulations last week governing the release of material on the Internet. The rules would crack down on Internet providers who distribute information the government deems to be "state secrets," either through news services or electronic chat rooms. see also Chinese Rule Confuses Firms (Washington Post).

• China - Shanghai Orders Illegal Internet Cafes Closed (Reuters)
  Shanghai has ordered 127 Internet cafes to close and seized computers, the latest attempt to rein-in an online industry that is mushrooming out of control. see also China blocks internet explosion (Guardian) and Internet-Cafés geschlossen (Spiegel Online).

• Netherlands - Le débat sur la régulation de l'internet relancé au Pays-Bas (ZDNet France)
  Un site en néerlandais, présentant différentes méthodes de suicide, suscite la controverse aux Pays-Bas. Les parlementaires néerlandaisprofitent du tollé soulevé pour demander la modification des lois sur la régulation de l'internet, plutôt libérales dans ce pays.

• USA - Campus Porn Targeted (Wired)
  The Arizona legislature doesn't want college kids downloading porn online. The first bill, introduced this month, requires state universities to restrict Internet access to educational purposes. Under the second measure, universities must install oft-criticized filtering software on computers.

Issue no. 141 - 30 January 2000

• Censor to face High Court test (Australian IT)
  Opponents of Australia's Internet censorship law will mount a High Court challenge to test its validity, as the Australian Broadcasting Authority begins issuing take-down orders to remove offensive content.

• China clamps secrecy rules on Internet (Reuters)
  China has clamped new controls over the Internet to stop web sites from "leaking state secrets", and an official newspaper said curbs on news content were on the way. Under rules published in the People's Daily, web sites are required to undergo security checks. See also Can governments control the internet? (BBC).

• UK - Watchdog moves to curb racist websites (Guardian)
  Internet sites which publish criminally racist material are to be targeted for the first time in Britain by the internet watch foundation under plans backed by the government's e-commerce minister, Patricia Hewitt, and Whitehall's e-envoy, Alex Allan.

Issue no. 140 - 22 January 2000

• Australia - ABA starts cleaning up the Web (Network World Today)
  An undisclosed number of locally hosted Websites have been ordered to remove questionable content in the wake of the new Federal Internet regulation laws introduced on January 1.

• Australia - Internet content (DCITA)
  Transcript of an interview with the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston and the head of the Internet Society of Australia on the Triple J Morning Program. Triple J is a national youth network (aimed at 18 to 25s) and is part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

• Internet users want to take responsibility for what they access (ITC News Release)
  Concerns about the internet and its content lessen when people learn more about it, according to new research published by the Independent Television Commission, with the support of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, today. As users and potential users became more aware of ways of avoiding access to material which they consider undesirable, either for themselves or for their children, they became more willing to take responsibility for what they view, and feel that the internet does not need to be subject to external content regulation.

• Myanmar Issues Tough Internet Restrictions (AP)
  Myanmar's military regime has issued tough restrictions that forbid the posting of political writings in cyberspace - even though the public does not have access to the Internet.

• USA - iVillage.com Sues Couple Over Obscene Internet Postings (Law News Network)
  A Web site geared toward women is suing a wife and husband, charging that they posted obscene and threatening messages on a message board devoted to the benefits of breast-feeding.

• USA - To Fight Hate Speech Online, U.S. Turns to Housing Law (New York Times)
  Federal officials have invoked an unlikely statute in their quest to prosecute the alleged operator of a hate site: the Fair Housing Act.

Issue no. 139 - 16 January 2000

• Australia - Government slams Net censorship criticism (Newswire)
  The Federal Government has dismissed criticism by the Eros Foundation, an adult industry association, that of its controversial Net censorship legislation are unconstitutional, saying the establishment of the new scheme "is clearly within Commonwealth constitutional power".

• GOP On Net Taxes And Porn (Newsbytes)
  Electronic commerce taxes must be eliminated, and Internet porn should be also, and if it isn't, it should be taken out of the reach of children, according to Republican residential hopefuls at the latest GOP debate.

• The Net is a deadly poison say rabbis (The Register)
  Leading Israeli rabbis have banned the Internet from Jewish homes after dubbing it a thousand times more dangerous than TV. The ultra-orthodox Council of Torah Sages signed the ruling, which also slammed computers, CD players and films, calling the Web the "world's leading cause of temptation."

• France - Rencontres d'Autrans : comment réguler Internet? (Le Monde)
  Internet pose de manière récurrente la même question aux juristes et aux pouvoirs publics. Faut-il adapter les règles existantes ou en promouvoir de nouvelles, totalement inédites?

• Ireland - Board to monitor illegal use of the Internet (Irish Times)
  The former Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Eamonn Barnes, has agreed to act as chairman of a new board which will consider ways to control the illegal and harmful use of the Internet. This arises from concerns about the proliferation of sites offering services such as child pornography on the Internet.

• France - L'Internet français réclame un arbitre à son image (Libération)
  La création prochaine, et attendue, d'un organisme public de régulation pour l'Internet pourrait-elle remettre en cause le fonctionnement du Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) et de l'Autorité de régulation des télécommunications (ART)? Probablement, si l'on en croit la vivacité des débats suscités par cet épineux et récurrent sujet aux Rencontres sur l'Internet organisées à Autrans.

Issue no. 138 - 9 January 2000

• EFA moves Web site to US (Newswire)
  Vocal online civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has moved its Web site to the United States, two weeks before the introduction of Australia's Internet censorship laws.

• McCain Plays Net Porn Card (Newsbytes)
  Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain is airing a television advertisement in South Carolina that among other things hails the senator's long-standing fight against Internet pornography.

• Web Sites Bloom in China, and Are Weeded (New York Times)
  With the ambivalent blessing of the government, locally produced Web sites and chat rooms have spread rapidly here in the last two years, giving China's estimated seven million Internet users a forum for public debate and discussion - even a degree of dissent - that previously was unavailable.

• USA - ACLU Sues Over Y2K Flick (Newsbytes)
  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Justice Department for allegedly suppressing a Web-based film that predicts a riot in Times Square on New Year's Eve. see also USA - FBI's Shutter Speed (Village Voice) and ACLU Sues U.S. for Filmmakers, Web Host Over Suppressed Web Film (Law News Network).

• USA - Bill Would Outlaw Internet Drug Information (APBnews.com)
  The days of ordering bongs and pipes and other drug paraphernalia online, getting information on the medical uses of marijuana or instructions on growing hemp may go up in smoke if lawmakers have their way.

• USA - Judge Strikes Law Against Online Sex Info to Minors (The Recorder/Cal Law)
  A California judge declared unconstitutional a Penal Code section that makes it illegal to transmit sexual material over the Internet if the person sending the information knows the recipient is a minor.

• Australia - Watchdogs needed for information industry (Sydney Morning Herald)
  By the end of 2000 Time-Warner, Sony, Viacom, Disney, Bertelsmann and News Corporation will own 90 per cent of the world's information. Advertising supports 60-90 per cent of magazine/newspaper production and electronic media. Proper regulation is essential, but Australia doesn't seem to have it.

Issue no. 137 - 18 December 1999

• ABA registers codes of practice for Internet service providers and content hosts (Press release)
  The Australian Broadcasting Authority has registered three codes of practice that outline the obligations on Internet service providers and content hosts in relation to Internet content unsuitable for children or potentially offensive to adults. see also ABA Approves IIA Code of Practice for Content Regulation (IIA) and Guide for Australian ISPs.

• UK - Radio Authority fines station (Press Release)
  The Radio Authority has fined Hallam FM £50,000. The South Yorkshire station has been fined following late night phone-ins which involved gross breaches of the statutory requirements regarding taste and decency and incitement to crime. The broadcasts included a gratuitous description of paedophilia, and the condoning of and encouragement of rape. see also Radio Authority fines Xfm.

Issue no. 136 - 12 December 1999

• Australia - All About Online Laws (Wired)
  Before new Internet censorship regulations go into effect, confusion and controversy continue to reign. The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) -- the national body charged with implementing the law -- has expanded its Web site to provide ISPs and content hosts information about their new responsibilities. see also Cracker Defiles Aussie Authority (Wired).

Issue no. 134 - 27 November 1999

• Australia - Net censorship board takes a paternal hand (Newswire)
  The Federal Government has announced the 11 members of NetAlert, its Internet Advisory Council, which will pay a key role in researching new Net access blocking technologies and advising the government on the implementation of its highly controversial Net censorship legislation. The appointments - which are dominated by parent and school activist groups - have already been criticised by Net freedom of speech groups. see also Internet content advisory board announced (Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) and Hitting the board (Newswire), Australian Computer Society slams ABA age verification proposal (Newswire), Australia's Regulation of Offensive and Illegal Content - Powerpoint Presentation (NOIE).

• Le Sommet mondial des régulateurs (CSA)
  Le Sommet mondial des régulateurs sur Internet et les nouveaux services, qu'organisent ensemble le Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel et le Forum des régulateurs de l'Institut international des communications, se tiendra les 30 novembre et 1er décembre à l'UNESCO. Le programme détaillé | English version.

• UK - ITC imposes financial penalty on Sima TV (Press Release)
  The ITC has imposed a financial penalty of £20,000 on satellite licensee, Sima TV, for breaches of the ITC Programme Code. The breaches were for incitement to crime or disorder and not providing an adequate range of opinions in the channel’s coverage of Iranian affairs.

• USA - FBI's Shutter Speed (The Village Voice)
  The FBI worked in tandem with the U.S. Attorney's office to persuade his Web host and its server to pull an independent artist, Mike Zieper's site without having a subpoena or court order.

• France - Futur organisme de "corégulation" de l'internet (internet.gouv.fr)
  Le Premier ministre confie une mission à Christian Paul Christian Paul, député de la Nièvre. Cette mission, créée dans le cadre de la consultation publique sur la Loi sur la société de l'information (LSI), a pour objet de définir les contours exacts des compétences que pourrait exercer le futur organisme de corégulation de l'internet, ainsi que les modalités concrètes de sa mise en place. Voir aussi Débat autour de la "corégulation" de l'internet (ZDNet France) et 85 recommandations pour un Internet démocratique en l'an 2000 (IRIS).

• USA - Censorship Suit Thrown Out (Wired)
  A lawsuit claiming the state of Virginia is censoring the Internet just got thrown out of court.

Issue no. 133 - 18 November 1999

• German court overturns pornography ruling against CompuServe (New York Times)
  Overturning a verdict that has horrified the Internet industry in Germany for the last two years, a Bavarian court ruled that Felix Somm, the former top executive of Compuserve's German subsidiary is not guilty of distributing pornography. see also Porno-Prozess: Somm freigesprochen (Heise News-Ticker). Text of CompuServe case online

• USA - When is it a Felony to Talk about Zoom Skis? (MenWeb)
  A judge issued a far-reaching order that may be a first-ever precedent in cyber-space, banning a man from talking about Zoom skis, or any other skiing-related topic, in the Usenet newsgroup Rec.Skiing.Alpine.

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