|
World Tackles
Web Regulation by Declan
McCullagh on
11/24/99 of
Wired Topic: Taxation, International |
I http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32711,00.html
Every
government official worth his pension plan seems to have his own
plans for Internet regulation these days.
Nigeria wants a "Marshall Plan" where tax money
from wealthy countries would wire Africa. The Netherlands wants to
limit"commercial influences" on the Net, and Singapore hopes to
convince everyone to follow its lead in restricting erotica
online.
To try to find a
common ground, governments from around the world will debate the
best way to approach Internet regulations at a United Nations summit
next week in Paris.
A major
theme of the "Internet and New Services" two-day summit of
regulators,hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization, is whether government pressure on the
computer industry is sufficient -- or whether more formal
regulations are necessary.
[...]
http://www.csa.fr/html/dos121_1.htm#ang
World
Summit of Regulators "Internet and the New Services" (Paris,
UNESCO, 30 Nov.- 1 Dec. 1999)
THIRD PREPARATORY NOTE SUMMARY OF THE FIRST CONTRIBUTIONS
AND DISCUSSION PROSPECTS
The
CSA forwarded to all the independent communication regulation
authorities which they knew existed in the world a first preparatory
note at the beginning of 1999, outlining the reflection themes
envisaged and the main sets of problems identified, in order to
collect as many contributions as possible from the regulators in
charge of the audio-visual or both the audio-visual and
telecommunications on the five continents. [...]
According to the OFCOM again, as far as the Web
sites are open to the public, which is potentially large, or even
very large, and as far as this sites actually offer limites
possibilities of interactivity, ' the setting up of licences,
concessions, and the registrating of the services concerned have to
be entrusted to a public authority, which doesn't exclude that
private bodies can play an important role for the autoregulation.
[...]
3- The reflection on
internet regulation must be carried out at international level but
also at the same time at national level
Another result of the consultation by the CSA is
that of the extreme variety of the tolerance thresholds from one
country to another as to the application of freedom of expression,
whether regarding, among other examples available, the refusal to
display nudity or that of racist remarks. Unsurprisingly, it is
therefore not very reasonable, in fact not very desirable for some,
to expect the advent of a world conception of freedom of expression
to regulate content. [...]
'The Internet is international, and even if there is
regulation, it will be easy to avoid it by setting up in the States
which do not take part in such regulation or by transmitting from
such states'. (Norway).
Several contributions however mention the need to find an
international framework suited to an awareness of the challenges of
the internet, going beyond the commercial or economic challenges
only, and taking into account the social, cultural and political
dimension of the changes caused by the existence and the use of the
internet (points mentioned a regular conference of the regulators on
the internet, to compare points of view, or a world conference on
the information society, organised by UNESCO).
'Given the borderless nature of the Internet', the
SBA (Singapore) is of the view that ' there is a need for more
international dialog and cooperation in tackling the problems
mentioned in the CSA report while we can each attempt to regulate
the content providers within our national boundaries, ther is a need
to get together and develop a common global framework which can help
make the Internet a safer place for our citizens. The World Summit
provides an excellent platform for global dialog and sharing of
ideas to take place.'
§-2 Ways
are thus open at a European level, and in all the international
negotiation bodies G8, IUT, OMPI, OMC, UN, UNESCO, etc. Police and
legal co-operations and specialisations at an international level
are also obviously essential. But 'new forms of regulation' must be
invented say the Norwegians [...]
At a third level, the labelling of the sites is envisaged.
For the moment, only the more advanced countries seem to set up
reflection groups for labelling sites (Australia, Canada,
Recommendation by the European Commission).
[...]
At a fifth level, there
are plans to design, country by country, or on a multi-national
scale, filtering software packages intended for the end user or for
the technical suppliers. [...]
Beyond the adaptation of the penal code for what concerns the
illegal content on Internet (including the possibility of punishing
the expression of revisionism on the net) the german laws about the
information and communication services foresee, in teir second part,
the realization, entrusted to the Federal Office for Verification of
writings threatening the minors, of an Index which would register
the injurious contents that are not forbidden. Once they are
indexed, these contents can only be broadcasted if technical devices
are settled in order to prevent minors to read them. The third part
of the law concerns the prejudicial contents the services suppliers
whose offers contain contents which threaten the minors are
compelled to chose representatives who must protect the minors.
[...]
The way Singapore has
chosen is quite original "Internet service providers (ISPs) ans
Internet Content providers (ICPs) are automatically licensed and
they are given a set of broad guidelines that provides a clear idea
of what their responsibilities are. This approach creates greater
transparency and makes it easier for the industry to operate and
grow. ISPs are not required to monitor the Internet or its users and
they only need to limit public access to hundred mass impact
pornographic sites identified by SBA. Primary responsability for
contents lies with the Internet content providers who are required
to comply with the Internet code of practice which outlines some
broad markers of what the community regards as offensive and harmful
to Singapore' s racial and religious harmony and public morals.' In
order to complete this regulation framework, the SBA encourages and
promotes actively the auto-regulation of industry and public
education.
But rather than
accepting the American software packages available on the market,
several countries hope to produce national filtering software, or
software specific to a particular type of public, more suitable to
the national contexts, cultures and morals (Australia, Singapore) or
regional contexts, cultures and morals (European INCORE project). In
September 1996, seven member countries of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Singapore, Viet-Nam, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand) decided to
collectively regulate communications on the internet in order in
particular to prevent pornography.
At a sixth level, the responsibility of the technical
suppliers is envisaged in various ways. The trend seems to be
removal of the responsibility of technical suppliers but with
exceptions. It is true that the risks of de-locating accommodating
services are quite actual. In most countries, neither the
legislators nor the judges have either drawn up or clarified a
position on this complex legal problem. Still, the Gabonese CNC,
like many others, 'shares the CSA's reflexions about the necessity
to name a responsible person for edition in the audiovisual services
on Internet. [...]
6- The
radio-TV Right must be adapted every where in the world to the
technological new deal
In
addition to the indispensable respect for the 'major principles'
already quoted (defence and promotion of the cultural values and
contents, pluralism…) the answers the CSA has received justify in a
recurrent way the presence of the Right and of the audiovisual
regulatory authorities in the debate about the Internet Regulation,
at least at three levels first, because Internet certainly concerns
the future of Radio and TV, even if, as it has been seen, there is
no matter of urgency and even if the concrete mode of this coming
hybridization his still hardly known; second, because some services
conveyed by the Internet Protocol also may be soon assimilated to
the Mass Media ; lastly, because the right of audiovisual or
broadcasting (which depends on the country) seems to be the best
ground for any attempt to adapt a legal frame for the communication
towards the public through Internet.
§-1. The relevance of the right of audiovisual or
broadcasting in the development of Internet is obvious fot what
concerns the publications on the Web (ie the communication towards
the public through the Internet Protocol).
First, many contributions approve the idea of not
defining the audiovisual or broadcasting communication services
through their infrastructure or their technical support. In most of
the countries, the criterion which determines the audiovisual
communication is because of its social dimension, the public, or the
differentiated addressee. [...]
For the Netherlands Regulation Authority again, ' it is also
of importance that the information is not subject to commercial
influences. The freedom an individual is supposed to have when using
a databank on the Internet is actually rather relative. The provider
of the data service may quite easily guide the user of that service
in a certain (commercial) direction. In that case, the viewers have
to be able to rely on the fact that the information offered by the
broadcasters on the Internet, is objective. In the same way than the
Internet editors ans others professionally involved with the
broadcasters' sites have to be sure that they can gather, compose,
and present information in all editorial independance. Therefore, we
feel that it would make sense to impose the strict division between
editorial and commercial on all services of the broadcasters on the
Internet that are aimed at the general public.'
As a matter of fact, the debate concerns
everywhere the range of the restrictions that could be envisaged for
instance, is it necessary to impose the respect for the forbidden
fields of advertising (alcohol, tobacco…) in the audiovisual
programmes broadcasted on Internet? Netherlands explains
that'certain basic principles of the broadcasters have to be
transferred on the Internet, as for instance the distinctive
character of the public broadcasting organisations, the distinction
between editorial and commercial and the protection of minors. On
the Internet to, the public broadcasters should distinguish
themselves from commercial providers by the non commercial character
of the information offered. It should be perfectly clear, on the
Web, wether services are being sponsored. Illicit advertising and
advertising for tobacco and cigarets should also be prohibited on
the Internet. [...]
§5. For
these new intermediary media services, there are nevertheless some
demands identification of a responsible person for the edition,
right to reply, minor welfare, elementary restrictions about
advertising and honesty of information… [...]
Without sacrificing to the traditional prophecies
surrounding the internet 'miracle', sometimes alarmist, at other
times idealist, the duty of the leaders of all countries consists in
serenely setting out the realistic prospects of this new tool. From
then onwards, it is particularly necessary not to deny, without
however exaggerating them, the threats of increasing inequalities
that the internet supports. [...]
3- The solutions envisaged by the various contributions
economic and technological aid and the promotion of the public
domain on the internet
§-1.
Economic North-South aid. It is most often the case for the
developing country bodies to apply to the developed countries for an
economic aid enabling the Southern countries, today mostly excluded,
to contribute too to the world wide web and to benefit from it.
According to the terms of a Nigerian delegate to the RIARC, what is
needed is a 'Marshall plan' for the internet in
Africa. [...]
It is
therefore important that the regulators weigh up their
responsibilities in this field and take a stand on the questions of
access (public domain, free access to the services of general
interest, taxation of the local communications devoted to internet…
). [...]
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