No subject

30/08/99 19:23 

  IIA inches closer to Net policy 
  Roulla Yiacoumi 

  ISPs should not engage in universal blocking of content deemed
  prohibited by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA),
  according to the Internet Industry Association (IIA). 

  The IIA, which has long advocated a self-regulatory approach to
  the Internet in Australia, has released the latest draft of its
  Internet Industry Code of Practice. The new document addresses
  the soon-to-be introduced censorship regime of the Federal
  Government (see story), as well as unsolicited email, ecommerce
  consumer protection and privacy. 

  Under the IIA's policy, ISPs must provide users with tools such
  as filtering software, which they can use to control the access
  of content in the home. According to the IIA, the ISP is "not
  expected to absorb the costs associated with meeting this
  obligation". Instead, the suppliers of the products will be
  responsible for ensuring their products comply with the
  government's Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services)
  Bill, and will be required to provide updates to the software
  to filter "any additional material which the ABA has classified
  as prohibited". 

  If the code is supported by industry and adopted by the ABA,
  which will be responsible for monitoring Net content (see
  story), then the ABA will have no role in issuing access
  prevention notices to ISPs within Australia. "In cases where
  serious material is referred to the ABA, the Authority will
  independently inform relevant law enforcement agencies in the
  host country through appropriate channels," it stated. 

  The IIA has also made the following recommendations in its
  draft policy version 5.0:

       Internet access accounts should not be provided to
       persons under the age of 18. To this end, IIA suggests
       ISPs limit new accounts to those who can produce a valid
       credit card number;
       All ISPs must provide a list of content control options
       to its users such as password access, client filtering.
       They must also provide users with information about
       controlling children's Net access;
       ISPs must inform subscribers that prohibited content
       should not be placed online.


  The IIA said its "industry facilitated user empowerment" code
  will be administered by an independent council. The IIA is
  accepting written comments on the policy draft until September
  30.

                                                            

  This article is located at
  http://www.newswire.com.au/9908/iianet.htm 

.....................................................