EFA MEDIA RELEASE - GOVT INTERNET PROPOSALS THREAT TO FREE SPEECH

[ EFA logo ]
Media Release
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.

                    Media Release                  July 20th 1997

GOVT INTERNET PROPOSALS -- THREAT TO FREE SPEECH; BURDEN ON ISPS 

Online civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers Australia has warned
that the proposals for Internet regulation released this week by the
Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Alston, and the
Attorney-General, Mr Williams, would threaten free speech and place an
impossible burden on Internet service providers.

EFA Chair Kimberley Heitman said the Government had done well to avoid the
totalitarian censorship recommendations of the Senate Select Committee in
its June 1997 report.  However the proposals were still "an unnecessary
intrusion by Big Brother".

There are several problems with the suggested principles for legislation.

The principles make Internet Service Providers (ISPs) responsible for
content created and published by others.  "It is quite simple.", said Mr
Heitman. "Content providers should be responsible for content.  The whole
concept of making service providers responsible for content is bizarre.
It is as senseless as making paper-makers responsible for books published
using their paper".

The principles require ISPs to make judgements about how material
published by their users would be classified by the Office of Film and
Literature Classification.  "The recent Rabelais case in the Federal
Court illustrates the complexity of the OFLC classification system",
said Mr Heitman.  "But now ISPs, whose skills are primarily technical,
are expected to enter the legal minefield of censorship classification.
This is an extraordinary burden which can only result in perfectly legal
material being removed 'just in case'."

The principles do not explain how jurisdictional issues resulting from
States passing their own censorship laws would be resolved.  "Requiring
ISPs to take into account whether material would 'otherwise be illegal
under a State or Territory law' could be a total nightmare, especially for
national service providers", commented Mr Heitman. "It would effectively
allow individual States to impose their values on the entire country".

The principles fail to take into account that clearly objectionable
material such as child pornography is already illegal under existing
law, or that the vast bulk of "adult" material is sourced from outside
Australia.  "The Clinton administration in the USA has just abandoned
attempts to regulate the Internet - yet Australia seems to be trying to
do the impossible all by itself", said Mr Heitman.

There is still no evidence that there is any problem for which legislation
of this kind is the solution.  User education and community awareness
are important, but these can not usefully be compelled by legislation.

ENDS

      --------------------------------------------------------------
      Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc  --  http://www.efa.org.au/
      representing Internet users concerned with on-line freedoms
      --------------------------------------------------------------
      Media Contacts

      Kimberley Heitman
      Phone: +61 8 9458 2790
      Email: [email protected]

      Danny Yee
      Phone (home): +61 2 9955 9898
      Phone (work): +61 2 9351 5159
      Email: [email protected]
      --------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND

DCA principles:
	http://www.dca.gov.au/policy/fwork_4_online_svces/framework.htm
Return to EFA Media Release Page