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Issue no. 288 - 19 October 2003

• US / SG - A Comparative Study of Internet Content Regulations in the United States and Singapore (Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal)
  The Invincibility of Cyberporn by Joseph C. Rodriguez. Unfortunately, for those countries seeking to enact their own brand of regulation, Singapore’s attempt at regulation demonstrates that the technology does not yet exist, and it is impossible to filter the Internet. The task of filtering is made more difficult by evolving technology that circumvents filters and by increasing bandwidth that allows greater flows of information. Therefore, unless a nation takes the drastic step of blocking all foreign Websites and essentially creating a national Intranet, a grudging acceptance of U.S. Internet policy is in order. For U.S. Internet policy, the legislative trend indicates that U.S. ISPs will be gaining more responsibility and legal liability.

Issue no. 287 - 11 October 2003

• IN - India Bans Web Group, Blocks Yahoo Forums (AP)
  A government ban on an Internet discussion group run by an obscure separatist movement has ended up blocking access to popular, unrelated Yahoo forums in nearly all of India. India's Computer Emergency Response Team, a section of the Information Ministry that normally deals with hackers and virus attacks, ordered the discussion group blocked in mid-September for 'promoting anti-national news and containing material against the government. But for technical reasons, Indian Internet service providers were unable to block just the Kynhun site - and had to shut down every Yahoo discussion group.

• NO - European watchdog approves Norwegian cable porn ban (Aftenposten)
  The ESA (European Free Trade Agreement Surveillance Authority) will not challenge Norway's ban on cable-TV porn. ESA considered the situation after Norway's Mass Media Authority warned tougher measures against ineffective censorship of porn films broadcast on cable TV channels, and accepts the MMA stance. Norwegian authorities have long been annoyed by cable-TV channels that allowed easy workarounds to remove the black bars Norwegian censors place over strategically sensitive areas of the image in hard-porn movies. By using their remote controls to switch to Swedish versions of their porn channels, users would bring up Swedish subtitles. Since the black bars were linked to Norwegian subtitles, this change produced uncensored porn.

• NO - Norway ends 90 years of film bans (BBC)
  The Norwegian censors have abruptly reversed a ban on nearly 300 films, meaning that all films which were previously forbidden in the country can now be legally screened. It is 90 years since film censorship began in Norway, but the Norwegian Board of Film Classification has celebrated the anniversary by ending prohibition in favour of classification. see Press Release (NBFC).

• US - FCC Proposes Shock Radio Fine (AP)
  The Federal Communications Commission proposed the second-biggest fine ever for indecency: $357,000 against Infinity Broadcasting for a radio segment in which a couple was said to be having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Issue no. 285 - 28 September 2003

• CN - China Charges Internet Dissent (AP)
  A southwestern China government official accused of using Internet chatrooms to contact dissidents abroad has been arrested on subversion charges. Li Zhi was arrested Sept. 3 by state security agents in Dazhou, a city in Sichuan province where he was a finance official, according to a statement from New-York based Human Rights in China.

• India bans a Yahoo group (CNET News.com)
  The Indian government has banned a Yahoo group, alleging that it has anti-India content. The offending Web site was found to promote antinational news, the government's Department of Telecommunications said in a statement Monday. The Web site contained material regarding the federal government and the local government of Meghalaya, a state in northeast India. Many insurgent groups are active in the region. The department said it ordered the site blocked after Yahoo officials in India declined to comply with a request to remove the material from the Web site.

Issue no. 284 - 21 September 2003

• Net censorship hits 'all time high' - Privacy International (The Register)
  Internet restrictions, government secrecy and communications surveillance have reached an unprecedented level across the world. The report, Silenced, by London-based Privacy International and the GreenNet Educational Trust was launched at the preparatory meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. A year-long study of Internet censorship in more than 50 countries found that a sharp escalation in control of the Internet since September 2001 may have outstripped the traditional ability of the medium to repel restrictions. The report fires a broadside at the United States and the United Kingdom for creating initiatives hostile to Internet freedom. Those countries have 'led a global attack on free speech on the Internet' and 'set a technological and regulatory standard for mass surveillance and control' of the Net.

Issue no. 283 - 14 September 2003

• SG - Panel proposes new censorship guidelines (Straits Times)
  New guidelines on what Singaporeans can see at the cinema, theatre and on television were proposed by a committee appointed by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mita). The Committee reviewed the following media: films, videos, broadcast media, sound recordings, publications, arts entertainment and new and converging media. It calls for the setting up of a council comprising the four partners of regulators, industry, community and artists to look into media education for consumers and parents. For a start, industry players should share responsibility by providing suitable consumer advice to alert consumers and parents of content that may be sensitive to some. see Executive summary and Full report with interesting reference to Singapore's "symbolic ban" on 100 Web sites.

• TH - Govt can't block porn sites, claim researchers (Bangkok Post)
  It will be almost impossible for the Thai government to effectively block access to pornographic web sites, according to researchers from Chulalongkorn University, but it can introduce other measures such as a rating system, self-regulation and even consider legalising the porn business.

• TH - Webmaster complains over censorship of erotic police site (Sydney Morning Herald)
  The owner of a gay website showcasing pictures of Thai police in their snug-fitting brown uniforms has complained over police efforts to block access. The Nation newspaper reported that misterpolice.com webmaster Vorapong Siriwan was seeking to remove his website, which also includes tales of sexual fantasies involving police, from a blacklist of 100 censored sites.

Issue no. 282 - 7 September 2003

• AU - IIA Content Code Guide for Users (IIA)
  The Internet Industry Association has prepared this guide to assist Australian Internet users understand Australia's co-regulatory framework for online content. The new regulatory regime commenced on 1 January 2000 and places certain obligations on Internet Service Providers and Internet Content Hosts. It also requires the development of industry codes of practice.

• TH - Censors can't agree what to ban (Bangkok Post)
  A move in Thailand to impose a ratings system on internet websites has struck a problem - the would-be censors cannot agree what should be banned.About 100 officials, child protection workers, computer scientists, students and internet surfers met yesterday under the auspices of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry. But the meeting could not agree on the definition of the "grey area'', to which limited access would be allowed.

Issue no. 281 - 31 August 2003

• IN - Watch what you surf, Net police are here (Times of India)
  The Government of India has outlined an official procedure for blocking websites. Order No. GSR529(E) permits the blacking out of websites promoting hate content, slander or defamation of others, promoting gambling, promoting racism, violence and terrorism and other such material, in addition to promoting pornography, including child pornography and violent sex, and adds: "Blocking of such websites may be equated to balanced flow of information and not censorship." Various agencies can submit a complaint to the director of Cert-In, a new organisation which has been set up by the government to address IT security issues. A committee comprising bureaucrats from Cert-In, the department of information technology and the law or home ministry meet and take on the spot decision on whether the website is to be blocked or not. Neither the producers of the website nor those with a contrary point of view are to be given a hearing.

• PK - Cable TV vows boycott (BBC)
  Pakistan's cable TV operators say they will refuse to broadcast national channels in protest at being prevented from showing Indian programmes. The Cable Operators' Association of Pakistan's boycott will also include foreign news channels such as the BBC and CNN. Pakistan banned Indian channels in March 2002 during a period of tense ties with its neighbour.

• UK - Nude scenes on TV increase after watershed (BBC)
  Scenes including nudity and sexual activity on terrestrial television have increased during the past four years, according to research by TV watchdogs. Sex scenes have more than doubled from 6% to 14% since 1999, says the survey by the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the BBC. see also Press Release.

Issue no. 280 - 24 August 2003

• UK - ITC boss to police broadcast standards at Ofcom (Guardian)
  New communications regulator Ofcom has hired a senior independent television commission official to oversee broadcasting standards, including complaints about TV and radio programmes and advertising. Chris Banatvala, the ITC's head of factual programmes, will join Ofcom as its head of standards. Mr Banatvala will report to Tim Suter, the Ofcom content board member with responsibility for content and standards. Mr Banatvala and Mr Suter will be responsible for drawing up standards codes for TV and radio programming. They will also work with the ad industry to develop a self-regulatory system for broadcast advertising, along the lines of the advertising standards authority, which oversees print and outdoor advertising.

• US - Challenge to Washington state law on video games depicting violence against law enforcement officers (Media Coalition)
  VSDA v. Maleng. Plaintiffs, including the Video Software Dealers Association, Interactive Digital Software Association, Washington Retail Association, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, International Game Developers Association, and Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The suit challenges Washington HB 1009, which prohibits the sale or rental to anyone under age 17 of video games depicting violence against law enforcement officers. Plaintiffs won a preliminary injunction suspending the law on July 11. see also Current Litigation News Internet; Display; Violence; Zoning; Obscenity/Pornography; Harmful to minors/Minors' access; Seizure/Prior Restraint; Misc.

Issue no. 279 - 17 August 2003

• Islam at the electronic frontier (Guardian)
  Internet porn is popular in Muslim countries but so are online fatwas and 'e-jihad', writes Brian Whitaker. There are two kinds of internet cafe in the Middle East: those where you sit with your back to the wall, and those where you don't. The importance of these seating arrangements should not be underestimated: having your back to the wall means nobody can look over your shoulder to check what you are up to. In other words, it is a discreet way of signalling that the cafe has a laid-back attitude towards pornography.

• Pakistan tackles web porn (BBC)
  Pakistan is to develop software to block pornographic websites as part of a drive against obscenity on the net, say officials. The computer program will be offered for free to surfers later this year so that they can set up internet filters on their machines.

Issue no. 277 - 30 July 2003

• CN - Chinese Work Around Net Blocking (Wired)
  State censorship of the Net and the draconian prison sentences handed down to alleged cyber dissidents might capture the imagination outside China, but the vast majority of surfers inside the country worry about more mundane matters. Like whether they can access Google.

• PK - Pakistan tackles web porn (BBC)
  Pakistan is to develop software to block pornographic websites as part of a drive against obscenity on the net, say officials. The computer program will be offered for free to surfers later this year so that they can set up internet filters on their machines. As a conservative Muslim nation, Pakistan is keen to shield its citizens from the copious amount of explicit material on the web.

Issue no. 276 - 23 June 2003

• CoE - Why Europe still doesn't get the Internet (CNet News.com)
  Declan McCullough disagrees with a Council of Europe proposal to extend the right of reply to the Internet. see Draft Recommendation on the right of reply in the on-line media (CoE) and hearing. see also Gegendarstellungsrecht online: Widerspruch fest eingebaut? (Spiegel Online) and Le droit de réponse doit être transposé à l'internet (transfert.net) interview avec Emmanuel Derieux.

• EU - CNBC finds funding haven in Brussels (Guardian)
  The pan-European business news network CNBC is setting up a new channel in Brussels which will avoid Britain's strict rules on programme sponsorship. CNBC Europe, which was embroiled in a row with the independent television commission over funding of a documentary series on the euro, said it would be able to show such programmes on its new channel, although they will still not be screened in Britain. This year the ITC ruled against CNBC Europe for showing a programme about the euro that was part-funded by the European commission. CNBC said the EC had no editorial control over the series but the regulator said it breached its rule preventing a sponsor funding a news or current affairs programme "with a view to promoting their goods or services".

• The Internet under Surveillance - Obstacles to the free flow of information online (Reporters sans frontières)
  The Internet is the bane of all dictatorial regimes, but even in democracies, new anti-terrorism laws have tightened government control of it and undermined the principle of protecting journalistic sources. This report is about attitudes to the Internet by the powerful in 60 countries, between spring 2001 and spring 2003. The preface is by Vinton G. Cerf, who is often called the 'father' of the Internet. version française.

Issue no. 275 - 14 June 2003

• CN - China Issues Rules to Strengthen Control of Online Games (Chine Economy)
  China's Ministry of Culture has launched regulations to strengthen the management of online games and products to be sold or used on the Internet, including the approval for import of such products and for the launch of such websites.

Issue no. 274 - 9 June 2003

• CN - China Issues Rules to Strengthen Control of Online Games (Chine Economy)
  China's Ministry of Culture has launched regulations to strengthen the management of online games and products to be sold or used on the Internet, including the approval for import of such products and for the launch of such websites.

• CoE - Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet (Council of Europe)
  The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a CoE - Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet. The main objective is to strike a balance between freedom of expression and information on the Internet and other rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, such as the protection of children against unsuitable online content. In response to the risk of over-regulation of Internet access, the text underlines the principle of freedom of expression and the free circulation of information on the Internet, in accordance with the requirements of Article 10 (freedom of expression and information) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Declaration condemns practices aimed at restricting or controlling Internet access, especially for political reasons. The Declaration also deals with the freedom to provide services via the Internet, the responsibility of intermediaries and the anonymity of Internet communications.

Issue no. 273 - 1 June 2003

• CN - China Sentences 4 in Internet Dissent (Washington Post)
  Four Chinese intellectuals accused of criticizing the government on the Internet and setting up a democracy study group have been sentenced to up to ten years in prison for subversion, a human rights group reported.

• US - New Laws, New Questions About Pornography Online (GigaLaw.com)
  by Doug Isenberg. A new and little-noticed law, the PROTECT Act, includes two important restrictions on online pornography. But, the law raises questions about whether it complies with the First Amendment. In this column, Doug Isenberg discusses the PROTECT Act's provisions on domain names and so-called "virtual" child porn while noting the free-speech issues they create.

Issue no. 272 - 24 May 2003

• CN - Chinese censor online chat (BBC)
  The extent of Chinese Government censorship of what its people say in online chat rooms has been exposed by Reporters Without Borders. Messages critical of the Chinese Government either never appear or are purged from popular chat rooms, a study Living dangerously on the Net by the free speech pressure group has revealed. The study also found that Chinese law enforcement agencies regularly track down and even jail the authors of the critical messages. Reporters Without Borders estimates that China employs 30,000 people to watch what its people are doing online.

• CN - Internet operator jailed (BBC)
  A Chinese internet operator, Huang Qi, has been sentenced to five years in prison for subversion after he allowed articles about China's 1989 pro-democracy protests to appear on his website.

• DE - Landesmedienanstalten wollen gegen Sex-Werbung im Fernsehen vorgehen (Heise)
  Die Landesmedienanstalten wollen gegen Telefonsex-Werbung und Sex-Clips im Privatfernsehen vorgehen. Eine Untersuchung habe gezeigt, dass viele der Sex-Spots im Verdacht stehen, verbotenerweise für Pornografie oder Prostitution zu werben, teilte die Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (DLM) heute nach einem Treffen in Wiesbaden mit. Die Sex-Werbung nehme in den Nachtstunden einen derart großen Umfang ein, dass sich der Fernsehzuschauer ihr kaum noch entziehen könne. Die Rundfunkanstalten wollten sich nun für eine Reduzierung der Sex-Werbung und eine Entschärfung ihrer Inhalte einsetzen.

• DE - Schund muss gesperrt werden (FOCUS)
  Seit April gelten neue Regeln für den Jugendschutz im Web, und die Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) hat sich in Erfurt konstituiert. Sie soll festlegen, wie man Jugendliche beispielsweise vor Pornographie oder Gewaltverherrlichung im Fernsehen und im Internet bewahren kann. Gesprächsrunde: Wolf-Dieter Ring. Der Jurist leitet die neue Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz und koordiniert unter anderem die Gespräche mit der Internet-Branche; Stefan Aufenanger. Der Medienpädagoge lehrt als Professor an der Universität Hamburg und beschäftigt sich unter anderem mit der Wirkung von Medien auf Familien; Oliver Süme. Der Jurist ist im Vorstand des Verbands der deutschen Internetwirtschaft Eco für Recht und Neue Medien zuständig und Experte für Online-Recht; Jürgen Büssow. Der Diplompädagoge ist seit 1995 Präsident des Regierungsbezirks Düsseldorf und will illegale Inhalte aus dem Web filtern.

• RO - Romania forbids free access to online pornography (EDRi)
  Romania has adopted a new law to make free access to pornography illegal. Online pornography must always be protected by a password, and should always charge a fee per minute, to be declared with the fiscal authorities. Free access is explicitly forbidden in a law formally adopted on 20 May 2003. The law has raised a number of comments from the civil society and ISPs. The National Regulatory Authority on Communications ( ANRC) can receive claims regarding non-compliance with the law. In case of receiving such claims and after checking the contents of the site, ANRC may require internet service providers to block access to the respective site. If providers don't comply with these requests, they can be fined 100 - 500 millions lei (approx 2.700-13.500 euro). see unofficial translation.

Issue no. 271 - 18 May 2003

• AU - Drop in concern about violence on television (ABA)
  A national survey has found that the level of concern about the portrayal of violence on free-to-air television has decreased over the past decade, but that violence remains the main concern of viewers. In 2002, 14 per cent of adults spontaneously mentioned violence as a concern compared to 25 per cent in 1989 when a similar survey was conducted. The Australian Broadcasting Authority today released the results of the study it commissioned on community attitudes towards the portrayal of violence on free-to-air television.

• UK - Puttnam warns that Ofcom could sink into black hole (Guardian)
  Lord Puttnam warned the government that it was "facing a black hole at the centre of the regulatory universe" unless it made special provisions for the funding of new media and telecoms super-regulator Ofcom. The Labour peer, who chaired the joint scrutiny committee looking into the communications bill, issued the warning as the House of Lords continued to debate amendments to the legislation. The peers have been granted an extra two days to debate changes to the bill, which is moving at a snail's pace through the House of Lords.

Issue no. 270 - 11 May 2003

• FR - Deux étudiants exclus pour avoir téléchargé des images pornos (Transfert)
  A Poitiers, on ne badine pas avec le sexe. Deux étudiants ont été exclus de l'université de Poitiers pour avoir téléchargé des images à caractère pornographique en utilisant le matériel mis à leur disposition par les services universitaires. L'un des étudiants a été exclu de l'établissement pour un an, l'autre s'est vu interdire définitivement toute inscription dans l'enseignement supérieur public français.

Issue no. 269 - 6 May 2003

• FR - Diffusion de programmes pornographiques ou de très grande violence (CSA)
  La diffusion de programmes de catégorie V (les oeuvres cinématographiques interdites aux mineurs de 18 ans ainsi que les programmes pornographiques ou de très grande violence) ne demeure possible qu'entre minuit et cinq heures du matin. Pour la diffusion en mode numérique doit être mis en oeuvre un dispositif efficace de verrouillage d'accès à ces programmes, qui nécessite la composition d'un code parental fourni, avec des garanties appropriées, aux seuls majeurs titulaires de l'abonnement.

Issue no. 268 - 28 April 2003

• AU- Australia shutters music piracy site (Reuters)
  Australian police have closed down an Internet music piracy site and arrested three students in an alleged copyright scam that cost the music industry at least $37 million.

• OSCE - Media Representative focuses on freedom of expression in the digital era (OSCE)
  The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, has published a booklet titled From Quill to Cursor - Freedom of the Media in the Digital Era. Experts from UNESCO and the Council of Europe as well as journalists and internet service providers contributed their papers from a one-day workshop on freedom of the media and the Internet that was held in Vienna in November 2002.

• TN - Le gouvernement veut "nationaliser" les cybercafés tunisiens (Transfert)
  Le gouvernement tunisien gèle l'octroi d'autorisations pour les cybercafés privés et annonce son intention de limiter l'accès à internet à des "centres de services publics" contrôlés par l'Etat. Les autorités rappellent qu'elles "procèdent à la révision approfondie et minutieuse (sic) des critères d'octroi des autorisations d'exploitation des centres publics d'internet".

• UK - Video game ad 'condoned violence' (BBC)
  A poster for a video game has been found by the UK's advertising watchdog to condone violence. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a poster for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was irresponsible and likely to incite people, especially children, to violence.

• UK - Internet Banner and Pop-up Advertisements Survey 2002 (ASA)
  The Advertising Standards Authority has published findings from a survey into the compliance of Internet advertisements with the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion.

• US - Group questions state site-blocking law (CNET News.com)
  The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has appealed the Pennsylvania attorney general's recent decision not to disclose the list of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to sites suspected of featuring child pornography. CDT is seeking the list because it suspects the government's campaign is overly broad and has forced Internet service providers (ISPs) to cordon off unoffending sites as well.

• US - Monster.com's resume purge draws fire (CNET News.com)
  Job-hunters at Monster.com who happened to go to school in Syria or Iran may be in for an unpleasant surprise. So might employers using the popular job-search site, which boasts more than 800,000 job postings, to advertise open positions in Sudan, Burma and five other countries. In a move the company claims is designed to comply with federal regulations, Monster.com will delete most references to those countries from job postings and resumes. A note that Monster.com sent to affected users says: "Your resume will be altered, removing all sanctioned countries from your resume."

Issue no. 267 - 21 April 2003

• CN - Reporters Without Borders website blocked (Reporters sans frontières)
  Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) deplores as a blow to free expression a decision by the Chinese authorities to block access to the organisation's website and called for the immediate lifting of the ban, which may have been imposed because of a press release on the site about the extended imprisonment of cyber-dissident Liu Di. Internet users reported on 14 April that the site, www.rsf.org, was inaccessible in China.

• Congress OKs Internet Porn Restrictions (Washington Post)
  Congress passed legislation that would give jail time to online pornographers who deliberately mask their sites behind innocuous domain names. The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the Child Abduction Prevention Act, which strengthens penalties for pedophiles, provides funding for a national child-abduction alert system and bolsters prohibitions against child pornography. The bill also bans the distribution of "virtual" child pornography - legal pornographic images of adults that have been digitally altered to look like children having sex.

• Cuba - Reporters Flout Censorship (Wired)
  Despite a recent government crackdown on journalists who work outside of the state-run media in Cuba - and many other obstacles - dissident writers continue to publish their work online.

• DE - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia stößt sich an Telepolis (Heise)
  Die Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM) hat die Veröffentlichung eines Fotos eines Kriegsopfers im Magazin für Netzkultur Telepolis beanstandet. Nach ihrer Ansicht dürften solche "Gewaltdarstellungen" nicht veröffentlicht werden, heißt es in einem Brief. Die FSM habe eine Beschwerde über ein Bild in dem Telepolis-Artikel Bombenzensur oder "Kollateralschaden"? erhalten, auf dem ein durch Kopfschuss getöteter Junge abgebildet sei.

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