[117891] in Cypherpunks
IP: Magaziner on Net Censorship: Why Bother?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Tue Sep 14 11:36:19 1999
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Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 09:41:06 -0400
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>
>
>Magaziner on Net Censorship: Why Bother?
>
>The Industry Standard.
>http://www.thestandard.com/articles/display/0,1449,6284,00.html?home.bf
>
>By Mary Lisbeth D'Amico
>
>MUNICH - Even if governments wanted to do so, they wouldn't be up
>to the task of censoring the Internet, according to Ira
>Magaziner, former U.S. Internet policy advisor to the White
>House.
>
>"You can't censor the Internet or enact centralized rules on it.
>It doesn't work," said Magaziner, the keynote speaker at the
>Internet Content Summit.
>
>Hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the three-day summit
>features leading politicians, civil-liberties groups,
>law-enforcement agencies and industry representatives. All have
>gathered to hear more about the Foundation's suggested framework
>for self-regulating Internet content.
>
>Politicians, however, have yet to abandon totally the idea of
>policing the Net. While also supporting self-regulatory efforts,
>Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schily stressed in a speech that
>self-regulatory proposals should not serve to delegate all
>responsibility for content to parents. "Government is obliged to
>protect the rights of its citizens," he said.
>
>Given the decentralized nature of the Internet and the 20,000 new
>Web sites that spring up worldwide each week, Magaziner said, no
>government can live up to the promise of protecting users from
>all harmful content.
>
>"Government would take too long and be too inflexible," he said.
>
>Magaziner said that the Clinton administration has long taken a
>hands-off policy on Internet issues, instead looking to the
>private sector to lead the way, as it has on such topics as
>digital signatures.
>
>"What we feel is going to be effective is to empower people to
>protect themselves," he said. Magaziner is currently president of
>SIS, a business-strategy consulting firm.
>
>Magaziner also spoke out in favor of the recommendations
>published today by the Bertelsmann Foundation, which were based
>on discussions with a group of experts and input from four major
>universities.
>
>The proposals include the development of an international system
>for rating and filtering content, which parents have the option
>to employ if they want. They also suggest the creation of a code
>of conduct to ensure that ISPs act responsibly when they become
>aware of harmful content. Another suggestion involved the setting
>up of hotlines for user feedback on content and conduct
>violations.
>
>Civil-liberties groups, meanwhile, have expressed concerns that
>any attempt to rate Internet content will amount to censorship.
>
>Yesterday, for example, a group called Cyber-Rights &
>Cyber-Liberties issued a statement to coincide with the
>Bertelsmann Foundation's summit. "ISPs and content providers
>should recognize that the European Convention on Human Rights
>(and other international agreements) enshrine the rights to
>freedom of expression, privacy and access to information," the
>statement said.
>
>Mary Lisbeth D'Amico writes for the IDG News Service.
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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
