CyberLaw Blog

Archive for February, 2009

US – Child porn damages precedent set: “(BBC)
A British man living in the US has been told by a judge to pay $200,000 to a woman for possessing an indecent image of her as a child. The judge said it was the first such criminal case in which someone found possessing illegal images had to pay restitution, despite not creating them. Briton Alan Hesketh was sentenced to 78 months in prison in October.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

ID card reviews must be published, rules Information Tribunal again: “The Government will have to publish controversial reports on its identity card scheme after the Information Tribunal backed the Information Commissioner’s order to publish at the end of a protracted legal wrangle.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

E-tailers can’t reclaim value of use of returned goods, says ECJ advisor: “Online retailers cannot reclaim some of the purchase price of goods even if they are returned after a long time and have given the user some benefit, an advocate general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

BBC News: Online child abuse images warning

Published: 2009/02/23 06:29:22 GMT

Children’s charities have expressed “serious concerns” many UK households still have access to images showing child sex abuse via their computers.

The government had asked all internet service providers (ISPs) to block illegal websites by the end of 2007. But firms providing 5% of broadband connections have still failed to act. One of them, Zen Internet, said in a statement: “We have not yet implemented the IWF’s recommended system because we have concerns over its effectiveness.”

It is understood other ISPs have cited the cost of blocking the illegal material as a reason not to participate in the scheme.

“ This is a battle over the merits of self-regulation versus legislation ”
Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC’s Technology correspondent

But the NSPCC’s Zoe Hilton said: “Allowing this loophole helps feed the appalling trade in images featuring real children being seriously sexually assaulted.” The blocked websites come from a list supplied by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), but some smaller providers refuse to use the list.

Easy access

The Children’s Charities Coalition on Internet Safety (CCCIS) says self-regulation is not working and it is calling for firmer action by the government.

Ms Hilton said: “Over 700,000 households in the UK can still get uninterrupted and easy access to illegal child abuse image sites.

“ The government is currently looking at ways to progress the final 5% ”, Home Office minister Alan Campbell

“We now need decisive action from the government to ensure the ISPs that are still refusing to block this foul material are forced to fall into line.

“Self-regulation on this issue is obviously failing – and in a seriously damaging way for children.”

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: “In 2006 the government stated that they wished to see 100% of consumer broadband connections covered by blocking, which includes images of child abuse, by the end of 2007.

“Currently in the UK, 95% of consumer broadband connections are covered by blocking. The government is currently looking at ways to progress the final 5%.”

UK – Online child abuse image warning: “(BBC)
Children’s charities have expressed ’serious concerns’ many UK households still have access to images showing child sex abuse via their computers. The government had asked all internet service providers (ISPs) to block illegal websites by the end of 2007. But firms providing 5% of broadband connections have still failed to act. See also Can we block child abuse sites? (BBC).”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Index on Censorship » Criminal minded

17Feb09 – 15:17

The Italian government is attempting to make web-based dissent a crime, says Cecilia Anesi

A new bill has come before the Senate, giving the interior ministry the power to order Internet providers to remove criminal content within 24 hours or face a fine of up to 250,000 euros.

This is not something happening in China or in Burma, but rather in Italy, a member of the European Union. Senator Gianpiero D’Alia introduced the measure after the Italian press reported on the existence of Facebook fan groups for convicted Corleone-born Mafia bosses Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, who have been convicted of dozens of homicides and are serving multiple life sentences in prison.

After Facebook expressed its concern about Italy’s proposed law to force Internet providers to block access to websites that incite or justify criminal behaviour, D’Alia replied that the aim is not to block sites like Facebook or YouTube in their entirety if they contain criminal content. Rather, the senator explained, the law is intended to force them to remove individual pages or groups.

However, the text of the bill is misleading, as it does not distinguish between blocking pages and entire websites. This makes the law extremely flawed, as Marco Pancini, the European Public Policy Counsel for Google, which owns YouTube, has said. Internet providers are not able to eliminate single elements from websites, and this means blocking entire platforms in a situation where Internet providers themselves are not left with any choice but to respect orders for the removal of an unlawful site.
(more…)

Row over web blacklist | Australian IT

Fran Foo | February 24, 2009

MAJOR inconsistencies have emerged in the way a top-secret blacklist of web pages is managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The content of the list of illegal, prohibited and potential prohibited web pages is meant to be strictly confidential. It is the backbone of the federal Government’s internet censorship plan.

The list is of critical importance as it is being used as a basis for internet filtering trials, which involves internet service providers blocking web pages.

ACMA is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 1982, and disclosure of information on the blacklist could jeopardise efforts to block access to harmful and offensive online material.

‘ACMA would not disclose information if doing so would contradict the Freedom of Information Act,’ the spokesman said.

Recent actions by ACMA, however, have called into question its methods of administering the list.

On January 5, an internet user in Melbourne, known online as Foad, lodged a complaint with ACMA about content on an anti-abortion web page, not the entire website. The man did not want his real name published for fear of reprisals. He said his motive was to test the system and show that web pages not showing material connected with sexual abuse of children could end up on the blacklist.
(more…)

YouTube – UK Government plans to criminalise Japanese Anime/Manga fans

The UK Government is planning to outlaw mere possesion of cartoon images that appear sexually explicit IF the persons in them APPEAR to be under 18. How do you tell the age of a cartoon character?…

Totally Tolerant, Up to a Point: “For Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentarian and film maker, who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich.”

(Via NYT > Freedom of Speech and Expression.)

Chinese Learn Limits of Online Freedom as the Filter Tightens: “The recent censoring of a tongue-in-cheek variety show has provoked howls from China’s so-called netizens, critical of their government’s control of the Web.”

(Via NYT > Freedom of Speech and Expression.)