[LINK] QUT Prof: 'Co-regulation key to safer internet'

[Roger Clarke]

Co-regulation key to safer internet
James Hutchinson
Mar 6, 2012 7:06 AM (1 day 2 hours ago)
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/292634,co-regulation-key-to-safer-internet.aspx

Internet no 'sacred realm'.

The author of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report into the 
classification system has called for a co-regulatory scheme to 
implement internet filtering.

Queensland University of Technology media professor Terry Flew, who 
authored the much-anticipated ARLC report on the national 
classification system, said filtering could be used as one method of 
preventing access to particularly 'abhorrent' material on the 
internet.

Though not explicitly backing a mandatory or voluntary internet 
filter, the commission did obligate service providers to take 
"reasonable steps" in preventing access to some material.

But blocking access to such sites would require more industry buy-in, 
Flew said.

"Restricting access to adult content generally or prohibiting content 
in particular can never simply be a responsibility of government," he 
said.

"The more this proceeds on a cooperative arrangement between industry 
and government, rather than an antagonistic one, the more likely we 
are to get outcomes that are beneficial to the community as a whole."

He welcomed moves by providers Telstra, Optus and CyberOne to filter 
child abuse sites based on an Interpol-maintained 'worst of' 
blacklist of more than 400 sites.

The voluntary filter and subsequent move to an Interpol blacklist has 
been widely seen as a stop-gap arrangement to the Federal 
Government's mandatory internet filtering proposal, which would focus 
on a blacklist of refused classification material maintained by the 
media regulator.

Under the ALRC's recommendations, the RC category would be replaced 
by a more narrowly defined 'prohibited' classification, a subset of 
which would most likely be used to maintain the blacklist.

But Telstra and Optus remain in the minority of service providers 
willing to publicly support filtering of connections.

Though the Australian Federal Police has indicated there are five 
providers ready to participate in the scheme - with Primus initially 
keen on taking part in the voluntary trial - most in the industry 
have remained quiet in recent months out of fear of retribution from 
customers.

Times change

The sudden silence quashed the most recent attempts at co-regulation, 
proving the Internet Industry Association's claims that 90 percent of 
its membership would provide a form of voluntary filtering by the end 
of last year wrong.

The IIA's proposal to draft a code of conduct on the issue floundered 
after the body's members refused to comply with a proposed voluntary 
internet code.

Some of IIA's previous high-profile members, including Telstra and 
Google, are no longer involved with the body.

"Events have moved on," IIA chairman Bruce Linn told iTnews.

"Our members don't want to adopt the code so it's sitting in limbo I guess."

However, he maintained co-regulation could still be possible in future.

Motivation to filter

Flew said community concerns over the availability of "abhorrent" 
material such as child abuse on the internet should provide the 
impetus required to gain further acceptance by service providers.

"Clearly there's not a suggestion that one trillion sites go to Surry 
Hills to get a classification," he said.

"If we're talking about child abuse material, for instance, I think 
there would be a strong view in the community that if it costs 
internet service providers to deny access to that material than 
that's a cost that's reasonable expectation of operating in the 
Australian media environment.

"The idea that the internet is not filtered is just not true. We know 
the trials being conducted by Telstra and Optus have led to a 
significant number of redirects already."

What's good for other media...

The Government is waiting on the findings of the separate Convergence 
Review before formally responding to the ALRC's findings.

It is expected the review, led by former IBM Australia boss Glenn 
Boreham, will recommend tighter regulation on internet-based 'content 
enterprises' such as YouTube.

However, Flew indicated that similar classification regulation may be 
required on the internet to restrict public access to adult content 
with an R18+ or X18+ rating .

"The broader question - in a context of convergent media do you 
continue to apply platform-based rules? Do you approach the internet 
as something that is qualitatively different from other media forms?" 
he said.

"The difficulty with that is the very nature of convergent media 
itself means that basically all media is appearing online.

"The question of rules and regulations that you apply to media more 
generally would seem, at least in the ALRC's interpretation, to bring 
in the internet.

"We don't see the internet as a kind of sacred realm that is 
fundamentally at odds with other media."


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University