EFA MEDIA RELEASE - EFA RESPONSE TO NET REGULATION PROPOSALS

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Media Release
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.

                    Media Release                  August 14th 1997

EFA RESPONSE TO NET REGULATION PROPOSALS

Electronic Frontiers Australia has released its response to principles
for Internet regulation put out by the Department of Commmunications
and the Arts.  

The response is available at:
	http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/doca.html

The EFA response calls upon the government to rethink its legislative
approach.  The current proposals are fatally flawed because they
confuse content providers, who put material online, with Internet
Service Providers (ISPs), who provide communication infrastructure to
users and content providers.

The response argues that government policy should give preference to:

* New legislation for specific Internet regulation.

* Regulation of content providers at a national level.

* Content regulation of the Internet consistent with international
  realities.

* Multiple Codes of Practice to deal with access and service issues.

* ISPs to have Commonwealth protection against liability for others'
  content.

* ABA to have administrative not policing role.

In July 1996 Senator Alston said at an INTIAA breakfast:
"Clearly the Internet is -not- a broadcasting or diffusion service as
currently defined in the Act. In establishing our scheme we will need
to start with a clean slate and devise a solution which recognises the
special attributes of online services, particularly the Internet. "

EFA proposes new Commonwealth legislation that scraps the "three-pronged"
approach of regulation under the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting
Service Act, and State and Territory censorship of content providers.

The announcement of the framework coincided with a press release which
stated that Government policy would be that what is legal "offline" would 
be legal "on-line".

EFA Chair Kim Heitman noted, however, that the Internet is a global
network with content that is distributed, published, and "available" from
jurisdictions beyond the control of Australian governments. "It is what
is legal 'offline' throughout the whole world that sets the practical
limits of Internet regulation", he said.

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

  EFA Campaign against Internet Censorship:
        http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/contreg.html

  EFA online petition :
        http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/petition.html
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