Censorship and the Internet

Lecture of March 29 2001

 

Myth: The Internet Is Not Regulated And Should Stay That Way (aka You Can Do Anything On The 'Net)

•     The Internet was funded by the US government for more than 15 years

•     Many existent laws apply to the Internet, especially so in the USA, where the Internet was invented

•     Fact: Some new laws are needed; e.g. to admit electronic evidence, digital signature

 

Myth: The Fewer the Rules (the Less Present the Government), the Better the 'Net

•     Without the US government, there would not have been the ‘Net

•     Asia (and many developing countries) needs rules for development

–   Situation is serious, e.g. “Love Bug” virus

•     It is not the quantity but the quality of rules

 

Myth:The Internet (or Cyberspace) Cannot (Physically) Be Regulated

•     Probably arises because people assume regulation=100% prevention

•   It's like regulating murder. Regulate the conduct or the person not the event.

•     No one lives in cyberspace. The Internet has no boundaries but people do.

•     Child-porn police in New Zealand

•   Always managed to get one person trading child-porn in live demos to visitors

 

Other Examples Of Net Police Patrols

•     Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Britain, the United States, Japan, and Russia have Internet police squads that actively scour the ‘Net for criminal activity

•     US FBI has Internet Fraud Complaint Center--www.ifccfbi.gov

•     International Olympic Committee hired Copyright Control Services to patrol the ‘Net for unauthorized video or images

 

Myth: The Internet Cannot Be Censored Because

•   1. bits and bytes do not stop at the border (Negroponte);

•   2. anyone can dial an international call;

•   3. it is impossible for government to monitor every user.

•     Governments use the threat of being caught and punished as deterrent

•     Fact: The cost of bypassing censorship has moved from the individual to the government

 

Myth: The Most Restrictive Internet Laws Are Those In Singapore And China

Number of convictions for Internet offences:

•     Germany--about 1,000 a year (1999)

•     USA--about 400 a year (since 1996)

•     China--not 400 total since 1995

•     Singapore--not 10 total since 1995

•     Reconciliation--bark worse than bite in China and Singapore

 

Myth: Regulation Requires International Cooperation, Which Is Impossible To Achieve

•     Governments are cooperating in child-porn, consumer fraud

–   First worldwide Internet “sweep” was in 1996 for consumer fraud organised by Australia

•     International agreement reached on WIPO  treaty 1998--either play by the rules or don't play.

 

Myth: Everyone Should Be Left To Regulate Themselves Because Self-Regulation Is The Only Way

•     Serious misunderstanding of self-regulation

•   often it means voluntary compliance--such as a company “regulating” itself

•     Few examples of successful self-regulation

•     The most successful self-regulatory regimes legislation as the backstop--a.k.a. co-regulation

•     US is averse to self-regulation for fear of regulatory slide

 

What is Self-Regulation

•     Delegation by government of regulatory powers to industry

•     There is the backing of law to sanction recalcitrant offenders

 

Filtering and Rating

•     RSACi

•     ICRA

Conclusions

•     The Internet has been regulated by government.

•     Within limits, it is and can be regulated.

•     Some countries badly need some legislation to develop the Internet further.

•     Self-regulation of the Internet is often given lip service.