29 April 2008

DE - Gutachten: Netzsperren greifen in Grundrechte ein

(Heise)
Sperrverfügungen für Inhalte im Internet "greifen in erheblichem Umfang in die Meinungsfreiheit der Inhaltsanbieter, die Informationsfreiheit der Nutzer sowie die Berufsfreiheit der Internetprovider ein." Zu diesem Ergebnis kommt das von der Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) vorgestellte Gutachten zu Sperrverfügungen im Internet. Wegen der Grundrechtseingriffe und der möglichen Beeinträchtigung der technischen Funktion des Netzes müssten "schwierige rechtliche Abwägungen und Verhältnismäßigkeitsprüfungen im Einzelfall" den Maßnahmen immer vorangehen, heißt es in dem Gutachten weiter. Der KJM-Vorsitzende Wolf-Dieter Ring sagte, die KJM habe bewusst in den vergangenen fünf Jahren keine Verfügung erlassen. Vielmehr setze man auf einen Dialog mit den Zugangsanbietern, damit diese selbst Verantwortung übernähmen und Inhalte auf freiwilliger Basis sperrten.

Labels: ,

27 April 2008

UK - How video games are rated

(BBC)
Given that the average gamer is aged 23 or above, it's perhaps no surprise that a lot of games are rated over-18 only. But who are the guardians of taste and decency and how do they decide a videogame's age rating? In the UK, video games are classified by two bodies - the Pan European Game Information system (Pegi) and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - both of which have overlapping roles.

Labels: ,

20 April 2008

UK - Standard adopted for filtering tools

(BSI)
The Kitemark for Child Safety Online has been launched with the Home Office and Ofcom to provide consumers - especially parents - reassurance that their children will not be subjected to undesirable web content. Manufacturers of filtering, monitoring and blocking applications can get their products certified against the Kitemark standard and those that pass the tests will be able to display the Kitemark symbol on their products. Parents will be able to see clearly and quickly which products will give their children the most effective protection whilst online. The Kitemark for Child Safety Online has been developed through a collaboration between BSI (the UK's National Standards Body), the Home Office, Ofcom and representatives from ISPs and application developers.

Labels: ,

08 April 2008

CoE - Recommendation on Internet filters

Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures to promote the respect for freedom of expression and information with regard to Internet filters (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 26 March 2008 at the 1022nd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

Labels:

06 April 2008

UK - Videogame retailers support Byron Review, says Byron

(Register Hardware)
Psychologist Dr Tanya Byron has told a meeting of videogame publishers that most retailers support the idea of giving the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) a bigger role over game classification.

Labels:

30 March 2008

UK - Video games ratings face overhaul

(BBC)
Video game ratings need to be overhauled to make them easier for parents and children to understand, a UK government-backed review has said. Carried out by psychologist Dr Tanya Byron, it says more games need to be rated by official bodies. It calls for the creation of a UK body to draw up and oversee a national strategy to keep children safe online. It also recommends that new PCs be sold with software that will help prevent children seeing harmful online content. See also Government to create child internet safety council (OUT-LAW News).

Labels:

US - Safer surfing for the kids

(FT)
Start-up KidZui have come up with a radically different approach that combines elements of social networking and fun avatars to create a safe web surfing experience for children aged three to 12. Instead of blacklisting bad websites, the KidZui service, which is built on top of standard browser technology, effectively "whitelists" the good ones - which have been identified and vetted by real people.

Labels:

22 March 2008

Business on the Hotseat Over Net Censorship

(Michael Geist)
In the mid-1990s, John Gilmore, one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, coined the phrase "the Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." A growing number of countries seem determined to challenge Gilmore's maxim. China is the best known, having implemented both a massive content filtering system that exerts control over external content and demanded that foreign Internet firms establish Chinese-versions of their services that abide by the government's requirements. China's censorship system may be the most extensive, but it is not alone. The University of Toronto's OpenNet Initiative, a world leader in tracking state-sponsored Internet censorship, recently co-published Access Denied, a book that highlights its pervasive growth.

Labels:

20 March 2008

Online games and the pre-teen killers

(Times)
Blog by David Hutchinson. I have been playing online with my Xbox. The game I've been playing the most is Call Of Duty 4, which has a 16+ rating. I wonder about the whole age rating thing. The Xbox has a plug-in headphone/microphone set. Many of the players appear to be boys who can't even be into their teenage years who shout insults in their pre-adolescent high pitches. I want parents to enforce game restriction ages, so I can enjoy an evening gaming and even if I still come last, at least it will be last among my peers.

Labels: ,

17 March 2008

CN - China blocks media due to Tibet unrest

(Guardian)
The Chinese government has cracked down on international media coverage of the unrest in Tibet, blocking websites and censoring the local feeds of broadcasters including BBC World and CNN. China's internet clampdown came over the weekend, following the outbreak of widespread unrest and violence in Tibet last week, and has hit websites including Yahoo, YouTube and Guardian.co.uk.

Labels: ,

03 March 2008

US - CDT skeptical participants in Internet Safety Technical Task Force

(CDT)
The Center for Democracy & Technology announced its participation in the newly formed Internet Safety Technical Task Force, created to examine technologies that might be used to protect children from inappropriate material or contacts on the Internet. Said CDT President Leslie Harris. "CDT is pleased to take its place at this important table. However, while we look forward to a thorough and rigorous study of the issues, our participation comes with a healthy dose of skepticism." CDT believes that technology tools in the hands of parents are a key part of the online safety landscape; however, technologies, such as age verification, that put Internet companies in the role of gatekeeper, raise a host of legal and policy questions.

Labels:

02 March 2008

FR - Dailymotion : la technologie de filtrage Signature entre en scène

(ZDNet.fr)
Dailymotion annonce le déploiement généralisé de la technologie Signature sur tous ses sites dans le monde. En octobre dernier, le site français de partage de vidéos a passé un accord avec l'Institut national de l'Audiovisuel (Ina), créateur de ce système de protection des contenus audiovisuels. Fonctionnant à partir d'une base d'empreintes numériques, il a été développé en interne par l'organisme public. Signature reconnaît et bloque la mise en ligne de vidéos piratées sur les sites de diffusion tels que Dailymotion.

Labels: ,

ISP "Voluntary" / Mandatory Filtering

(libertus.net)
by Irene Graham. This page contains information about ISP-level filtering systems implemented, by various ISPs in various countries, to prevent accidental access to child sexual abuse material on web pages/sites. It has been researched and produced in the context of the Australian Federal Labor Government's 2008 "plan" to mandate that Australian ISPs block access to a vastly larger type and quantity of web pages.

Labels:

01 March 2008

Details emerge on YouTube block

(BBC)
Pakistan has rejected claims that it was responsible for blocking global access to the YouTube video clip site. YouTube was hard to reach this week following action by Pakistan to block access inside its borders for its hosting of a "blasphemous" video clip. Analysis suggests the block was taken up by net hardware that routes data effectively cutting off the site.But a spokeswoman for Pakistan's telecoms authority said the problem was caused by a "malfunction" elsewhere. See also Blocked YouTube (Economist).

Labels:

US - Berkman Center will head Internet Safety Technical Task Force.

(Press Release)
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School will head a newly formed Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The Task Force, comprised of leading Internet businesses and organizations, will focus on identifying effective online safety tools and technologies that can be used by many companies across multiple platforms. The Task Force will evaluate a broad range of existing and state-of-the-art online safety technologies, including a review of identity authentication tools to help sites enforce minimum age requirements. The Task Force is a central element of the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by MySpace and the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking.

Labels: ,

27 February 2008

AU - Australian net filter at test phase

(Australian IT)
The federal Government's plan to have internet service providers filter pornography and other internet content deemed inappropriate for children is going full-steam ahead. 26 February was the deadline for expressions of interest to Enex TestLab, the Melbourne company evaluating internet service provider content filters on behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The trial will evaluate ISP-level internet content filters in a controlled environment while filtering content inappropriate for children, and will be followed by live field trials.

Labels:

26 February 2008

CN - "The Connection Has Been Reset?

(The Atlantic)
by James Fallows. China's Great Firewall is crude, slapdash, and surprisingly easy to breach. Here's why it's so effective anyway.

Labels: ,

24 February 2008

UK - Online content providers sign up to code of conduct to protect children

(Guardian)
Media companies including the BBC, Channel 4, Google, Yahoo and social-networking site Bebo have signed up to a new code of conduct, designed to give parents more information about the suitability for children of audiovisual content available on the internet and mobile phones. The new content information guidelines have been developed by industry and the government's independent advisory body the Broadband Stakeholder Group, backed by regulator Ofcom. For the first time, they extend the existing principles of broadcast consumer guidance across the wider new media industry. The guidelines do not cover user-generated content such as that found on YouTube or adverts. Instead, they call for all commercially generated content available online or on mobile phones to be flagged if it is unsuitable for particular age groups or contains content that may harm or offend. See Good Practice Principles on Audiovisual Content Information.

Labels: ,

EU - Results of benchmarking of filter tools

(SPI-BENCH)
During the second year of this three-year project, Deloitte once again carried out the SIP Benchmark testing via a comprehensive study of 30 tools for parental control. This benchmark analyses how effectively these technical solutions protect children aged 6 to 16 against harmful content on the Internet. About 150 parents and teachers from various European countries were involved in the study. In addition to these "real life" testers, an Internet laboratory was set up to conduct thorough testing under identical conditions. The results of the 2007 Benchmarking study have been compared with those of 2006 to reveal the evolution of these tools and the industry. Half of the 23 filters we tested both in 2006 and 2007 have improved their filtering capabilities relative to non-sexual content.

Labels:

FI - Controversy over police block list

(IDG)
In Finland, programmer Matti Nikki is under investigation for publishing a secret list of domains that authorities had allegedly censored in an effort to stop the spread of child pornography. Nikki published his list to prove the system was being abused, and was himself censored as a result. The Finnish Chancellor of Justice has received a complaint about police handling of the matter. The authorities distribute their list to the country's 20 largest ISPs, which then block access to the sites. The rest of Finland's 200 ISPs haven't implemented the technology, so protection is far from complete. see also Finnish internet censorship critic blacklisted (Wikinews) and Lapsiporno.info "Finnish law allows the police to list sites that fulfill the two criteria of containing child pornographic material (defined as being images that depict children in sexual context) and that are hosted abroad. However, lapsiporno.info is hosted in Finland and does not contain any child pornographic material." (Wikipedia). See also ENDitorial: Finnish web censorship.

Labels: ,

10 February 2008

PC Magazine on parental controls

(NetFamilyNews)
Parents might be interested in the latest reviews of filtering and monitoring software here at PC Magazine. The top-rated products are Net Nanny 5.6, Bsafe Online, Safe Eyes, and Webroot Child Safe. Note that these are "client" software products you install on the family computer. If you have the latest operating systems on Mac and Windows PCs, you can simply configure and use OS-level parental controls that are pretty feature-rich.

Labels:

30 January 2008

ISPs new role in network control

(BBC)
by Michael Geist. Industry has now dangerously shifted toward locking down the Internet. The Internet locks approach envisions requiring Internet service providers to install filtering and content monitoring technologies within their networks. ISPs would then become private network police, actively monitoring for content that might infringe copyright and stopping it from reaching subscribers' computers.

Labels: ,

27 January 2008

UK - Crackdown on sales of violent video games

(BBC)
Ministers want to make it easier for parents to protect their children from violent games by introducing a new, simpler classification system based on age ratings used by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Under the new scheme, it would become illegal for retailers to sell any video game to a child who was younger than the age rating on the box. At present, only the most violent games are regulated. The majority of games receive an age rating based on a voluntary system run by Pan-European Game Information (PEGI). PEGI ratings are not legally enforceable, however.

Labels: ,

17 January 2008

UK - Government continues to pressure ISPs for Internet filtering

(EDRI-gram)
On 8 January 2008, at the launching of the government consultation on new copyright exceptions, Lord Triesman, the UK minister for intellectual property, threatened the ISPs with the introduction of new legislation to force them to block illegal filesharing in case they cannot find a voluntary agreement together with the music and film industries by the end of summer.

Labels: ,

US - Should AT&T police the Internet?

(CNET News.com)
AT&T has said it is testing filtering technology that will look for copyrighted material. But should the company be acting as Internet cop?

Labels: ,

09 January 2008

AU - Commentators query plan to filter child porn

(The Australian)
Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy faces an uphill struggle in his plans to increase internet censorship by boosting the official blacklist from a puny 1000 web pages to many millions of banned websites. Industry commentators say the task may be beyond the capabilities of filtering mechanisms and procedures, and it would be impossible to block all such material. Senator Conroy will seek to halt access to child pornography, X-rated and violent material for all home users through mandatory filtering by internet service providers.

Labels:

30 December 2007

AU - Onus on providers to clean up web content

(Courier-Mai)
Every Australian with an internet connection could soon have their web content automatically censored. The restrictions are planned by the Federal Government to give greater protection to children from online pornography and violent websites. Under the plan, all internet service providers will have to provide a "clean" feed to households and schools, free of pornography and other "inappropriate" material. Australians who want uncensored access to the web will have to contact their internet service provider and "opt out" of the service.

Labels:

01 December 2007

News Web Sites Seek More Search Control

(AP)
The desire for greater control over how search engines index and display Web sites is driving an effort launched by leading news organizations and other publishers to revise a 13-year-old technology for restricting access. Currently, Google, Yahoo and other top search companies voluntarily respect a Web site's wishes as declared in a text file known as "robots.txt," which a search engine's indexing software, called a crawler, knows to look for on a site. The formal rules allow a site to block indexing of individual Web pages, specific directories or the entire site, though some search engines have added their own commands. The proposal unveiled by a consortium of publishers, known as Automated Content Access Protocol (ACAP), seeks to have those extra commands ? and more ? apply across the board.

Labels: ,

Parents the winner in Leopard, Vista showdown

(CNET News.com)
In a showdown of new parental controls in Apple's Leopard versus Microsoft's year-old Vista, there's one clear winner - the parent. Apple's newest operating system Leopard comes with a slick set of child controls. New settings help parents manage a child's time online, block use of certain Web sites or applications like instant chat or iTunes, and watch over what kids do and who they communicate with when Mom and Dad aren't around. Neither Leopard nor Vista parental controls address the increasing mobility of devices in the home. More and more kids use handheld devices with built-in Web browser and Wi-Fi capabilities, making it possible for them to go online nearly anywhere without supervision.

Labels:

18 October 2007

Filter this: new YouTube filter greeted by concerns over fair use

(Ars Technica)
After months of threats, pleadings, and lawsuits from content owners, YouTube finally rolled out its video content identification system. Consumer groups aren't quite as thrilled about the news as are content owners, however. Even content owners might turn out to be a bit wary. The new system isn't magic; it requires that copyright holders submit copies of every piece of material that they want protected.

Labels: ,

16 October 2007

YouTube rolls out filtering tools

(BBC)
Video site YouTube is launching filtering tools to clamp down on the sharing of video without permission. The tools, called Video Identification, will block copyright material from appearing and spreading on the site. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is currently fighting a billion-dollar legal battle with Viacom over the spread of pirated files. The firm says it currently removes copyright works when it has been told of their existence on the website.

Labels: ,

29 September 2007

TK - Turkey blocks again YouTube

(EDRI-gram)
A Turkish court from the eastern city of Sivas decided on 18 September 2007 to order the ISPs to block the access to YouTube, considering that one of the video hosted there insulted Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish army.

Labels: ,

MM - Burmese junta tries to shut down internet and phone links

(Guardian)
The Burmese junta was desperately trying to shut down internet and telephone links to the outside world after a stream of blogs and mobile phone videos began capturing the dramatic events on the streets. In the past 24 hours observers monitoring the flow of information have noticed a marked downturn, with the reported closure of cybercafes and the disconnection of mobile telephones.

Labels: ,

AU - Government seeks to ban more websites

(PC World)
The Australian Government has tabled a bill that will increase the power of police to ban websites that they deem crime or terrorism related. The bill was tabled in the Senate, without notice. This bill proposes to amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to expand the black lists URLs that is currently maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to include crime and terrorism related websites hosted domestically and overseas.

Labels: ,

15 September 2007

US - Web ad blocking may not be (entirely) legal

(CNET News)
Advertising-supported companies have long turned to the courts to squelch products that let consumers block or skip ads: it happened in the famous lawsuit against the VCR in 1979 and again with ReplayTV in 2001. Tomorrow's legal fight may be over Web browser add-ons that let people avoid advertisements.

Labels: , ,

09 September 2007

UK - anti-grooming software

(Guardian)
Adam Hildreth's website for teens made him millions and gave him the idea for his next venture: fighting online abuse. Now his anti-grooming software has put him in the child protection business. Once downloaded on the computer, if the software identifies a possible "grooming" conversation online a warning message appears on the screen advising the young person that he or she is involved in a potentially "dangerous" conversation. The software has the ability at the same time to alert the parent, either via email or text message, that a potential grooming incident has taken place.

Labels:

28 August 2007

US - Technology and Pornography

(Brigham Young University Law Review)
by Dawn C. Nunziato George Washington University Law School. In this Article, I scrutinize these attempts to use technology to remedy the problem of minors' access to harmful Internet content, focusing on the relationship between the efficacy of the technology and the constitutionality of the legislation at issue.

Labels:

26 August 2007

ISP-level filtering? No problem, says Nominum

(iTWire)
US software company, Nominum, claims that its technology is able to provide ISP level content filtering with 'sub-millisecond' delays, contrary to many claims that ISP level filtering would inevitably slow down response times for web surfers.

Labels:

AU - Student cracks Government's $84m porn filter

(Herald Sun)
A Melbourne schoolboy has cracked the Federal Government's new $84 million internet porn filter in minutes. Tom Wood, 16, said it took him just over 30 minutes to bypass the Government's filter. Tom, a year 10 student at a southeast Melbourne private school, showed the Herald Sun how to deactivate the filter in a handful of clicks.

Labels:

23 August 2007

US - Call For Better Age-Verification Methods

(BetaNews)
Attorneys General across the country banded together, calling on social networking sites to strengthen parental controls to keep minors from accessing questionable material on their sites. The efforts are being headed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who worked previously to get MySpace to disclose the identities of sex offenders on its Web site, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. While both are working to have the companies voluntarily change their policies, they are also pushing for actual laws.

Labels: , ,

04 August 2007

US legislation looks at web filtering

(vnunet.com)
The US has passed child safety legislation that could widen the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) powers to include the internet, according to constitutional campaigners.The Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007 (S.602) was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee and requires the FCC to do a study of internet filtering technologies. The research will include the 'existence and availability' of filtering technologies for audio and video content transmitted over 'wired, wireless, and internet' platforms, as well as other devices.

Labels: ,

01 August 2007

US - YouTube says content will be filtered this year

(OUT-LAW News)
Video sharing website YouTube hopes to filter out unauthorised copyrighted material by the end of the year, according to a lawyer for its owner, Google. He said that the company hoped to have its system in place by September or later in the autumn. Beck told a New York judge of the implementation timetable as part of a lawsuit being taken against it by content owners. Film and television company Viacom, music publisher Bourne and the English Premier League are suing YouTube and their cases have been combined.

Labels: ,

28 June 2007

US - Take Two: Manhunt 2 Gets Adults-Only Rating

(Wired)
Take Two has confirmed that the upcoming Manhunt 2, scheduled for release July 10 on PlayStation 2 and Wii, has been given a preliminary rating of Adults Only by the ESRB. see also Take-Two delays plans to distribute 'Manhunt 2' and Manhunt 2 Ban Fallout, Game Rated AO By ESRB.

Labels: , ,

UK - Censors ban 'brutal' video game

(BBC)
British censors have banned a violent video game from the UK for the first time in a decade. The video game Manhunt 2 was rejected for its "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying", the British Board of Film Classification said. It means the Manhunt sequel cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK. see also A discussion of the BBFC's decision to ban Manhunt 2 (gamesindutry.biz) by Rob Fahey.

Labels: , ,

27 June 2007

EU - Self regulation applied to interactive games : success and challenges

(RAPDI)
Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, ISFE Expert Conference, Brussels, 26 June 2007

Labels: ,

03 June 2007

UK - Pupils crack schools' internet safety filters | Students | EducationGuardian.co.uk

(Observer)
Thousands of schoolchildren have made it their mission to break through internet filters in schools meant to stop them surfing 'social network' websites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.

Labels: ,

23 May 2007

Global web censorship on the rise

(New Scientist)
The number of governments that routinely block web sites is increasing, according to the most comprehensive survey of internet filtering yet. Meanwhile, the same study suggests that techniques for blocking undesirable content are growing ever more sophisticated.

Labels: ,

21 May 2007

Global net censorship 'growing'

(BBC)
The level of state-led censorship of the net is growing around the world, a study of so-called internet filtering by the Open Net Initiative suggests. The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering.

Labels:

09 May 2007

AU - Porn filters free from July

(ZDNet Australia)
Content filtering software from five vendors is set to become freely available in Australia from July as part of the government's program to combat offensive online content. The AU$93.3 million National Filter Scheme will see the vendors' software provided via free download from a government portal. The vendors will be determined by a request for tender issued last week.

Labels:

13 April 2007

CN - China Blocks LiveJournal

The Chinese government began blocking access to the popular blogging site LiveJournal, cutting off its citizens from the roughly 1.8 million blogs the service hosts. SixApart, the company behind LiveJournal, says there are 8,692 self-reported Chinese bloggers on the site, a number that's likely low since it's based on information volunteered in user profiles.

Labels:

11 April 2007

Websense extends parental controls to mobile surfing

(vnunet.com)
Websense has unveiled software that allows wireless operators to protect users from malware and protect minors from inappropriate internet content. The software, dubbed the Websense Wireless URL Categorisation Engine (WUCE), allows operators to add services such as customised parental controls, premium content offerings for subscribers, enhanced wireless security identification, as well as mobile advertising and marketing.

Labels: ,

08 April 2007

TK - Turkey to block 'insulting' Web sites

(AP)
A parliamentary commission approved a proposal allowing Turkey to block Web sites that are deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, weeks after a Turkish court temporarily barred access to YouTube. Parliament plans to vote on the proposal, though a date was not announced. The proposal indicates the discomfort that many Turks feel about Western-style freedom of expression, even though Turkey has been implementing widespread reforms in its bid to join the European Union.

Labels: ,

04 April 2007

TH - Thailand blocks YouTube for clip mocking king

(Reuters)
Thailand's military-appointed government blocked access to video-sharing Web site YouTube after its owner, Google, declined to withdraw a video clip mocking the country's monarch. Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom told Reuters he ordered a block of the entire site from Thailand after the ministry's attempts to block the offending page last week failed. See also YouTube tries to resolve Thai ban (BBC). YouTube executives said they would not take down material that did not violate policies but would show authorities how to block individual items.

Labels: ,

01 April 2007

Internet censorship, at home or state-run, is a political hot potato

(Guardian)
by Seth Finkelstein. Would you be surprised to hear US civil liberties groups arguing that internet censorship is cheap, easy, relatively effective and difficult to circumvent? While in reaction, the US government claimed that such efforts had an unacceptable amount of collateral damage? Yet that's what has been happening for more than a decade in litigation involving censoring the internet. While these arguments sometimes descend into a fog of statistics, the overall implications are important for public policy. In the UK, a different set of censorship issues has arisen with BT's Cleanfeed project, intended to block content that is illegal, as gathered by the Internet Watch Foundation.

Labels:

2007-05-18 UK, Oxford Global Internet Filtering Conference 2007

(OpenNet Initiative)
The OpenNet Initiative is holding its first public conference to discuss the current state of play of Internet filtering worldwide. The conference will be hosted by the Oxford Internet Institute and held at the University of Oxford on May 18, 2007. The conference is free of charge and open to the public. Results from the first global study of Internet filtering carried out by the OpenNet Initiative will be on the table for a day of discussion involving ICT development experts, speech and human rights advocates, journalists and bloggers, international laywers and scholars, and others interested in state responses to online information flows. We hope you will join us in exploring interpretations and implications of our data and helping to shape the OpenNet Initiative's evolving research agenda.

Labels: ,

25 March 2007

Boost for web content labelling

(Guardian)
Technology firm Segala is spearheading an initiative to help internet users identify trusted web content through a comprehensive labelling system. Irish-based Segala has been developing content labels for more than two years and is now in talks with major web organisations and publishers to roll out the service for a number of applications.

Labels:

11 March 2007

UK - Brown unveils classification system for new media

(Guardian)
A "labelling" system for media content is under way to help parents protect their children from unsuitable content in the digital age, Gordon Brown revealed. The chancellor said that as part of its responsibilities for content regulation and media literacy Ofcom, the industry regulator, will introduce common labelling standards providing information on the type of content, regardless of the medium concerned: cinema, TV, radio, computer games, or the internet. A Treasury spokeswoman was unable to confirm when the scheme will be introduced.

Labels: ,

18 February 2007

New Web safety institute unveiled

(CNet News.com)
The Internet Content Rating Association, a nonprofit aimed at labeling adult Web sites, have launched a new institute to promote kids safety on the Web. Called the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), it will broaden its work from the ICRA rating system to include the development and support of other kid-safe technologies, educational programs and public policy work.

Labels: ,

03 February 2007

AU - Kids bombarded by online porn as filter delayed

(Courier-Mail)
Up to 2.5 million Australian families are still waiting for the Federal Government to deliver on a promise to protect children from online pornography. A $93 million plan to offer every household in Australia free internet filtering software was expected to be running by the end of last year. But seven months after the announcement ? billed as the 'single biggest commitment' to protecting Australian families in the history of the internet ? parents are still waiting to install the promised filters on their home computers.

Labels:

YouTube asked to 'remove' videos

(BBC)
Viacom, the parent firm of cable networks MTV and Nickelodeon, has told popular video sharing site YouTube to remove 100,000 "unauthorised" clips. YouTube and its parent Google failed to install tools to "filter" the unauthorised video clips, said Viacom. YouTube said that it works with "all copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content" as soon as it is officially notified.

Labels: ,

07 December 2006

US - 80 per cent of parents follow age ratings

(GamesIndustry.biz)
A new survey by publisher Activision has found that over 80 per cent of parents take into consideration the age rating of a game, as awarded by the ESRB.

Labels: ,

26 August 2006

NL - Dutch farmers dating site loses Google court case

(Reuters)
A dating site for Dutch farmers lost a court case against Google after demanding that the world's biggest Internet search engine stop publishing sponsored links to sex sites. Farmdate.nl had asked Google to install a filter that would prevent links to sex sites from appearing alongside query results for 'farm date,' arguing that it harmed its reputation. The Amsterdam court judge ruled that the words 'farm' and 'date' were too general to be granted exclusivity by Farmdate.

Labels:

23 June 2006

AU - Australia to give away porn-filtering software

(CNET News.com)
The Australian government plans to spend about $86 million to provide all the country's families with free Internet pornography-blocking software. see also Free Internet filter 'half-baked solution' (ABC).

Labels:

16 June 2006

EU - Reflections on Brussels Summit on Future of Free Expression / Child Protection

(Progress & Freedom Foundation)
by Adam Thierer. I traveled to Brussels and, along with my friends at the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA), co-hosted an interesting roundtable discussion entitled 'Mission Impossible: Protecting Children and Free Expression in Our New, Digital Content World.' The focus of the day's discussion was the same as previous ICRA roundtables that I have participated in and written about here before: What steps can we take to shield children from potentially objectionable media content without repressing freedom of speech / expression?

Labels:

12 June 2006

US - Row over GTA sex scenes settled

(BBC)
The publishers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas have settled a dispute with the Federal Trade Commission in the US over secret sex scenes in the game. Take-Two agreed to clearly disclose relevant content on the game's packaging and not to misrepresent rating or content descriptions.

Labels: ,

30 May 2006

China, the Internet's Broken Link

(Technometria) by Phil Windley. Danny Weitzner from the W3C discussed the Internet and Society called "China: A Broken Link on the Web". Is it the case that if everyone's a publisher, then too is every government a filter and interceptor? He starts off noting the story of Yahoo! "helping jail a Chinese writer" and made some interesting points: Yahoo! has no basis for ignoring Chinese law while obeying the laws of other countries; that leaves the choice of simply not doing business in China: there's an argument that being in China and obeying the law is better for the cause of freedom in China than not being there at all.

Labels:

21 May 2006

EU - Protection of minors and human dignity

(Press Release)
Education, Youth And Culture Council meeting - Brussels, 18-19 May 2006. The Council reached political agreement on a draft recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in the European audiovisual and online information services industry. It builds upon the Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 19981, which remains valid. It responds to the new challenges both in quantitative (more "illegal" content) and qualitative terms (new platforms, new products) that technological developments bring in this field. The draft recommendation addresses the following questions: media literacy; rating or classification of audiovisual content; portrayal of the sexes in the media and advertising; right of reply.

Labels:

18 April 2006

AU - Giants say no to porn filter trial

(Austrlain IT)
Australia's two largest ISPs have rejected invitations to co-operate in the most extensive internet content filtering experiment ever carried out in the country. The trial, to be launched in Tasmania, was expected to include the entire state's internet population. see also Telstra, Optus wait on filters

Labels:

25 March 2006

AU - Filters cause reduction in network performance

(NetAlert)
Research into the use of filters in the broadband environment confirms that accessing the Internet through a content filter at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level leads to a significant reduction in network performance. Network performance was reduced by 18 per cent for the best performing filter and almost 78 per cent on the worst performing filter. The research also demonstrated variable filter performance across the different categories of restricted content. Even the most effective filter in terms of accuracy, only blocked 76 per cent of the selected list of potentially offensive URLs used in the testing.

Labels:

04 March 2006

Microsoft readies Windows Live parental controls

(CNET News.com)
Microsoft is inviting testers to try an early version of new parental control software for Windows XP called Windows Live Family Safety Settings. The parental controls software lets people filter online content, Microsoft said in an e-mail invitation to testers. It is designed to help keep Web content that parents deem inappropriate from reaching their children--such as items on alcohol, pornography, gambling and tobacco.

Labels:

19 February 2006

IT - Italian Gov't Declares War on Illegal Online Gambling

(Ohmynews)
AAMS, the Italian governmental agency in charge of controlling state monopolies, said some 517 'illegal' or 'unauthorized' gambling Web sites are going to be obscured by an ISP level filter so that Italian Internet users will not be able to connect to them. Italian ISP's (Internet Service Providers) have also been ordered to deny access to several Chinese Web sites showing 'Serie A' soccer games.

Labels: ,

25 January 2006

Do Web filters protect your child?

(CNET News.com)
The recent DOJ subpoena for search records from Google and others - an attempt, the department says, to determine the effectiveness of Web porn filters - has raised the question of just how well such filters work. Experts say the technology is not flawless, but it has become more sophisticated. Still, filtering companies have to handle an exploding amount of content, and they're grappling with new kinds of Web-capable devices, such as the video iPod and cell phones.

Labels: ,

01 December 2005

DK - Filter blocks Danes from accessing child pornography

(DPA)
Some 1,200 Internet users in Denmark try to access child pornography websites each day, but a month-old blocking filter, so far only available to customers of telecommunications group TDC, has has thwarted most attempts. Danish police, Internet service provider TDC and child advocacy group Save the Children Denmark have developed the filter to block access to child pornography sites. Similar filters are in use in neighbouring Norway and Sweden. Norway introduced the system a year ago, Sweden put its system online in May. When a customer attempts to access a website known to contain child pornography, a blocking site automatically pops up, containing information about the filter, as well as a link to the police. About two thirds of the Danish surfers who are blocked give up quickly, while a third spend more than five minutes trying to access the material before giving up, police said. Danish police have listed some 1,300 sites containing illegal child pornography. All are based outside Denmark.

Labels:

28 November 2005

Google fixes glitch that unleashed flood of porn

(CNET News.com)
A technology glitch temporarily turned Google's new personal listings service, Google Base, into a vast, virtual red-light district. Google Base is the search company's foray into free classified listings and other user-generated content. Anyone can use the service to classify and post all kinds of information, from business services and used cars for sale to recipes and photos. Google Base allows adult content but should filter most of it if visitors use the company's SafeSearch feature, which blocks pornographic material from appearing in search results. That wasn't the case earlier this week, however, due to a technical glitch that allowed porn to leak into Google Base search results.

Labels:

30 October 2005

DK - ISP activates child porn filter

(DMeurope.com)
Danish telco TDC has activated a nationwide filter to help fight child pornography on the internet. The filter, which covers TDC customers, has been developed in cooperation with the national police and Save the Children. [Ed: the Save the Children Denmark hotline is co-funded by the EU Safer Internet programme].

Labels: ,

16 October 2005

O2 to become the first company to win web trust mark

(Press Release)
O2 is set to become the first company worldwide to be granted a new automated, machine-readable trustmark for accessibility of its corporate website, www.o2.com. The trustmark awarded by Segala - an independent web certification specialist - is an endorsement of the importance O2 places on the ability of people of all age groups and capabilities to view and engage with content on the company's corporate website. The Segala trustmark is expected to be adopted by leading Internet search engines, enabling web users to filter for content that is specifically accessible to people with disabilities as well as protecting certain groups, such as children, from inappropriate web content. The core system was developed under the Quatro project, part of the EU Safer Internet Programme, and in addition to accessibility information, the label includes ICRA (Internet Content Rating Association) descriptors. The trustmark can be displayed wherever the user is on a site, assuring them that the website conforms to industry guidelines.

Labels:

24 September 2005

NO - Telenor and KRIPOS introduce Internet child pornography filter

(Press Release)
Telenor and KRIPOS, the Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service, have introduced a new filter against child pornography on the Internet. The filter, which is one of the first of its kind, will prevent access to web sites containing sexual abuse of children. The filter will be placed centrally at Telenor, and no installation at customers' computers will be required. KRIPOS will provide lists of web sites containing child pornography, and Telenor will handle the technical management of the filter. Should any of Telenor's customers attempt to open a web site containing child pornography, a blocking site will automatically pop up, containing information about the filter, as well as a link to KRIPOS.

Labels:

14 September 2005

EU - European Parliament seeks .kid domain, but will it work?

(ouit-law.com)
The European Parliament wants a safe playground for children on the internet, voting to set up a top level domain called .kid. But a similar scheme already exists in the US and has failed to attract many content providers. The EU vote was on a proposal from rapporteur Marielle De Sarnez, who also suggested the creation of a European free telephone service, designed to provide information on existing filter methods, and making it easier to report dangerous sites or lodge complaints.

Labels:

05 September 2005

UK - BBC may introduce internet rating

(BBC)
The BBC could bring in an internet TV rating system to help people decide what to watch online. The internet labelling system will let viewers know if BBC programmes available over the internet contain sex, strong language or violence. Programmes that could be viewed on the internet 'on-demand' are not subject to normal broadcasting watersheds. The BBC will carry out a three-month trial with a 'G' for programmes that require parental guidance. see also BBC trials guidance labelling system for online programmes (Revolution).

Labels:

13 August 2005

UK - Parents 'ignore game age ratings'

(BBC)
Parents tend to ignore warnings on games that say they are unsuitable for children, research shows. A study commissioned by the UK games industry found that parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated. Like movies, all games receive an age classification. This works through a two-tier system involved the British Board of Film Classification and a voluntary European setup known as Pegi. But the research presented at the Elspa (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) summit in London suggests that few parents pay much attention to the age ratings.Most people knew that games had age ratings, the study by the Swiss research firm Modulum showed.However, parents were still letting their children play 18-rated games. The research showed that parents were more concerned about children spending too many hours playing games, rather than about what type of title they were playing. And to a certain degree, sticking an 18-rating on a game made that title more desirable. Mr Freund suggested that the problem was that parents felt disconnected from the world of video games and so showed little interest in this aspect of their children's lives.

Labels: ,

10 August 2005

Video gaming - Chasing the dream

(Economist)
Gaming has gone from a minority activity a few years ago to mass entertainment. Games consoles are the most powerful mass-produced computers in the world and the new machines will offer unprecedented levels of performance. But it will also make depictions of violence even more lifelike, to the dismay of critics. This summer there has been a huge fuss about the inclusion of hidden sex scenes in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", a highly popular, but controversial, game in which the player assumes the role of a street gangster. Senator Hillary Clinton and a chorus of other American politicians have called for federal prosecutors to investigate the game and examine whether the industry's system of self-regulation, which applies age ratings to games, is working properly. In America, half of the population plays computer or video games. However most players are under 40, while most critics of gaming are over 40. An entire generation that began gaming as children has kept playing. The average age of American gamers is 30. Amid all the arguments about the minutiae of rating systems, the unlocking of hidden content, and the stealing of children's innocence, three important factors are generally overlooked: that attitudes to gaming are marked by a generational divide; that there is no convincing evidence that games make people violent; and that games have great potential in education. see also A study of the effects on players of violent fantasy-world game Asheron's Call 2.

Labels: , ,

05 August 2005

US - ESRB rescinds San Andreas' rating over Hot Coffee

(GamesIndustry.biz)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been re-rated as AO (Adults Only) in the USA as the result of an investigation by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board into a sexually explicit mini-game that could be by following instructions online. The title was originally rated M (Mature), which is normally the highest rating granted by the ESRB to mainstream games and means that the title is suitable for over 17s. The far less common AO badge is seen as hugely commercially damaging, as the vast majority of US retailers have a policy of not carrying AO-rated titles.Rockstar now plans to remaster the game without the offending content, which will allow it to continue to see the title as M-rated; however, until those copies can be shipped out to replace existing stock, that stock will either have to be removed from shelves or re-stickered with an AO rating. GTA: San Andreas is unlikely to be re-rated in the UK where it has been given an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), meaning that it is illegal for retailers to sell it to anybody under that age. see also Video gaming - Chasing the dream (Economist).

Labels: ,

31 July 2005

NZ internet industry tests porn filter

(Sydney Morning Herald)
Internet industry groups in New Zealand are teaming up with the Government to test a system to filter out online child pornography. The Internal Affairs Department will test the British CleanFeed system, which was developed by Britain's Internet Watch Foundation and blocks access to sites that have been blacklisted for hosting such material, an industry group that monitors child porn online. The CleanFeed list of banned sites is updated through Web monitoring and public complaints.

Labels: ,

US - Content rating systems

(USA Today)
Summary of US content rating systems for video games, films, television and music.

Labels: ,

US - Rating change for 'GTA: San Andreas' could signal start of crackdown

(AP)
The video game industry's decision to give an adults-only rating to the best-selling "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" because of explicit sexual content could signal the start of a crackdown on raunchy games.

Labels: ,

DK - Denmark to get child porn filter

(DR Nyheder)
Danish police and Internet suppliers are planning to introduce a national child porn filter. The filter will make it harder for Danish paedophiliacs to access child porn on the Internet. It will block access to most child porn sites while at the same time informing people who try to enter these sites that they are breaking the law.

Labels: ,

18 June 2005

ICRA moving Stateside

(CommsWatch)
The Internet Content Rating Association, which currently has its officees in Brighton, England, is about to relocate to the USA. The ICRA Board has decided it wants the operation to be run from there and, when funds permit, to hire a European Director to guide the organisation's work on this side of the Atlantic. The Internet Content Rating Association is an independent, non-profit organisation whose mission is to protect children from potentially harmful material on the Net through the promotion of a global system of labelling on-line material.

Labels:

12 May 2005

US - Long-awaited filter reviews

(Net Family News)
Consumer Reports latest review tests filters and finds 1) Filtering software has gotten better but is still flawed, 2) the 11 products tested are 'very good or excellent' at blocking porn 3) 'they blocked more than porn but not effectively' (not great at blocking hate and violence sites or those that aided weapons-making or advocated illegal drug use), and 4) they over-blocked. CR's top 3 picks were SafeBrowse 'for most people,' AOL's Parental Controls 'for Mac users or families with young children,' and Microsoft's Parental Controls 'if you use MSN or want protection built into your Internet service.' Here's the page with at-a-glance ratings of the 11 products reviewed.

Labels:

16 April 2005

NL - Rating system introduced for Dutch mobile content

(Saferinternet.org)
Kijkwijzer, the Dutch labelling system for TV programmes, videos and cinema films has been extended to include content for mobile phones. As soon as a mobile phone user searches for pornographic images or text, a Kijkwijzer icon pops up with a recommended age restriction. For the moment Kijkwijzer only applies to sexually explicit content, but there are plans to extend the application to other types of sensitive material. The Netherlands Institute for the Classification of Audiovisual Media (NICAM) is the organisation behind Kijkwijzer. They signed a contract with mobile operators KPN Mobile, Orange, Telfort, T-Mobile and Vodafone. These five operators introduced the Kijkwijzer system on 1 April.

Labels:

11 March 2005

DE - Search engines voluntarily block harmful content in Germany

(EDRI-gram)
All the major search engines in Germany have voluntarily agreed to filter out harmful content for their German audience. Google, Lycos Europe, MSN Germany, AOL Germany, Yahoo, T-Online and t-info have founded a self-regulatory organisation that will voluntarily block a list of URLs considered to be harmful for the youth. The list is provided by a governmental media classification organisation, 'Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPJM)'.

Labels:

03 March 2005

US - Video Game Ratings System Adds New Category

(Reuters)
The video game ratings system will add a new category to protect children under 10 from seeing certain kinds of violence. The Entertainment Software Rating Board that administers the system said 'E10 ' would mark games that might contain 'moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.' The E10+ rating will reside on the scale between "E," meaning a game is appropriate for all ages, and "T," meaning a game for teenagers. The ratings system also includes "M" ratings for those over 17 and the rarely-used "AO" for adult audiences only.

Labels: ,

07 December 2004

DE - Ministerin: Strengerer Jugendschutz fürs Fernsehen

(Heise)
Der Jugendschutz im Fernsehen muss strikter gehandhabt werden, sagte Bundesfamilienministerin Renate Schmidt (SPD) beim Festakt zum 50-jährigen Bestehen der Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPjM) in Bonn. Die Landesmedienanstalten sollten notfalls strenger gegen solche Sendungen vorgehen können, betonte die Ministerin. Schmidt wies auch auf einen neuen Filter für indizierte Internet-Angebote aus dem Ausland hin, der voraussichtlich im Februar 2005 zum Download zur Verfügung stehen wird.

Labels:

UK - Age rating under the microscope

(BBC)
The government is calling for violent video game warnings to be made clearer in a bid to stop adult games falling into children's hands. Trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt believes too many youngsters are playing games aimed at adults which show 'high levels of violence'. The Interactive Software Federation of Europe is responsible for developing the age rating system for most major console manufacturers, including PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo.

Labels: ,

12 November 2004

DE - Bundestag streitet über Web-Sperrungen und Filter

(Heise)
Im Prinzip waren sich bei einer Debatte im Plenum des Bundestags alle einig, dass Sperrungsverfügungen gegen Internet-Provider kein probates Mittel im Kampf gegen Schmutz, Schund sowie andere illegale und jugendgefährdende Inhalte im Netz sein können. Redner der rot-grünen Regierungskoalition betonten unisono mit Vertretern der Opposition, dass vielmehr internationale Absprachen, die Stärkung der Medienkompetenz der Nutzer, Selbstregulierungsmaßnahmen der Wirtschaft sowie von den Nutzern selbst auf ihren Rechnern in Betrieb genommene Filterprogramme gefragt seien. Dennoch stimmten die Abgeordneten von Rot-Grün letztlich gegen den von der FDP eingebrachten Antrag "Schutz vor illegalen und jugendgefährdenden Internetinhalten -- Filtern statt Sperren" (PDF), obwohl er genau diese Forderungen aufstellte.

Labels:

15 October 2004

UK - Panto email falls foul of filth filter

(Guardian)
Today, Dick Whittington, thrice mayor of London, stands accused of peddling internet filth. The scandal erupted after emails promoting a Dick Whittington pantomime were deemed inappropriate by primary school computer filters because they contained the word Dick. Helen McDermott, a television presenter from Norwich, who helps to run the Ohyesitiz company, was puzzled when she emailed 30 primary schools in Norfolk offering to perform a panto scene free in assemblies but received only one reply. When she checked with school secretaries, she was told that schools had not received the offer because their filtering system, designed to prevent youngsters seeing offensive material, had blocked the emails because of the pantomime's title.

Labels:

04 October 2004

DE - Die meisten Kinder sind allein im Internet unterwegs

(de.internet.com)
87 Prozent der Kinder surfen ohne Begleitung der Eltern im Internet. Dies ergab eine Umfrage des Fernsehsenders Super RTL. Nur die ganz kleinen Internet-Nutzer unter sieben Jahren werden in den meisten Familien (78 Prozent) noch von den Eltern ins World Wide Web begleitet. Die Hälfte aller Befragten wird weder durch die Eltern noch durch Filtersoftware bei der Auswahl der Internetseiten beschränkt. Lediglich 20 Prozent aller Eltern nutzen Filter, um unliebsame Websites von der Nutzung durch den Nachwuchs auszuschließen.

Labels:

AU - Ways for parents to keep their children safe on the Internet

(Press Release)
To encourage Australian parents to educate themselves and their children about the risk of online exploitation, the ABA has released a revised brochure, Cybersmart Guide, that incorporates tips on general Internet safety, chat safety and filter selection and has been endorsed by the Australian High Tech Crime Centre and the Federal, State and Territory police forces.

Labels:

26 September 2004

Norway to Block Child Pornography Sites

(AP)
Norwegian police and a state-controlled telecommunications group announced a joint project to block access to child pornography Web sites on the Internet. The Telenor ASA group will filter hundreds of sites that the national crime police, Kripos, deem to contain child pornography. Anyone in Norway attempting to access such illegal sites will instead see a page informing them about the filter, and a Web link to Kripos. Telenor said the issue of censorship was not a problem, because if any user objects, the filter will be removed at their request, giving them access to the Web site. Telenor stressed that it would not log nor keep other records of those who attempt to access blocked sites, and that it would only block sites listed by the police.

Labels:

23 September 2004

Nokia lets parents filter out mobile smut

(CNET News.com)
Nokia has announced plans for new software that will allow customers to have more control over access to mobile content. The company said the product allows mobile service operators to offer control features that are based on subscriber recognition and user information. For instance, parents can indicate service categories to be barred in order to prevent their children from visiting questionable Web sites. The product is likely to be available during the last quarter of this year.

Labels:

22 September 2004

NO - Norwegische Polizei und Telenor entwickelten Kinderpornofilter

(Heise)
Norwegens größter Internetprovider Telenor sperrt in Zusammenarbeit mit der Kriminalpolizei Kinderpornoseiten. Am Dienstag hat das Unternehmen einen neu entwickelten Filter vorgestellt, der die Benutzer daran hindern soll, auf entsprechende Seiten zuzugreifen.

Labels:

Open new window when link clicked
Subscribe to Newsletter
text | HTML
Daily Digest
RSS feed