censorship and digital divide

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

Hi all

A few stories on:
 * Canadian Strategy to Promote Cyber-Safety
 * a story from The Times called Threat to press on the Net
 * a story from The Economist on Internet censorship.

There is also some information on the OECD conference in Dubai on
EMEF on Electronic Commerce that was held from 16-17 January 2001.
You can find the latest information on the Forum and will be able to
access and download the Forum documentation. Go to
http://www.oecd.org/dsti/sti/it/ec/act/dubai_ec/index.htm for more
information.

Also, Bridges.org has a newsletter that aims to provide current news
about issues related to the international “digital divide” and
showcase the efforts of organisations and individuals working in this
field. Their latest newsletter and subscription information is
available at http://www.bridges.org/newsletter/newsletter2_2.html or
go to http://www.bridges.org/ for their home page.

Cheers
David

Minister of Industry and Minister of Justice Announce Canadian
Strategy to Promote Cyber-Safety 

OTTAWA, February 15, 2001 -- Brian Tobin, Minister of Industry, and
Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice, today announced the launch of the
Canadian Strategy to Promote Safe, Wise and Responsible Internet Use,
a new initiative that will equip Canadian teachers and parents with
tools and resources to help them protect children against the dangers
of illegal and offensive Internet content. 

The strategy aims to increase public awareness of issues relating to
illegal and offensive Internet content by providing parents and
teachers with access to a broad collection of tools and resources,
highlighted in a 24-page booklet.


http://info.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/261ce500dfcd7259852564820068dc6d/85256779007b82f4852569f400542682


Threat to press on the Net (The Times)

BY RAYMOND SNODDY 

There is a deadening predictability to many of the responses to the
Government's White Paper on communications submitted this week. Few
of the documents manage to raise their sights beyond narrow sectional
self-interest. 

Yet some respondents have succeeded in putting their finger on two
important flaws in the proposed legislation, and their observations
go far beyond naked self-interest. 

In an almost casual way, they note, the Government appears to be
trying to bring Internet content under statutory regulation in
addition to the normal rules of criminal law. The sleight of hand
involved is so skilful that you almost miss it.
 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,66-85786,00.html

And I may have posted this one before...

Stop signs on the web 
Jan 11th 2001 | SAN FRANCISCO
>From The Economist print edition 

The Internet was supposed to be all about freedom. That is why
governments want to regulate it. It is far from certain whether
freedom, or government control, will win the day

IN 1967 Roy Bates, a retired British army major, occupied an island
fortress six miles off the English coast and declared it a sovereign
nation. He was never sure what to do with his Principality of
Sealand. Now, however, the fortress may have found its calling. For
several months, a firm called HavenCo has been operating a data
centre there. Anyone who wants to keep a website or other data out of
the reach of national governments can rent space on the servers that
hum in one of the concrete pillars. 

In the mid-1990s, Sealand would have been seen as yet more proof that
the Internet cannot be regulated. If a country tried to censor
digital content, the data would simply hop to a more liberal
jurisdiction. These days, the data principality symbolises just the
opposite: the days of unrestricted freedom on the Internet are
numbered, except, perhaps, in odd places like Sealand. 

It seems likely that 2000 will be remembered as the year when
governments started to regulate cyberspace in earnest; and forgot, in
the process, that the reason the worldwide network became such an
innovative force at all was a healthy mix of self-regulation and no
regulation. In Britain, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
now gives the police broad access to e-mail and other online
communications. South Korea has outlawed access to gambling websites.
The United States has passed a law requiring schools and libraries
that receive federal funds for Internet connections to install
software on their computers to block material harmful to the young.
 http://www.economist.com/printedition/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=471742&CFID=373067&CFTOKEN=66875893

=====
David Goldstein

2/3 Belmont Ave, Glen Iris, 3146
email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 3 9885 0601 (h)
       +61 418 228 605 (mobile)

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