Is Internet Regulation Around the Corner?
During the year 2008, Rasmussen conducted a poll to find out where Americans stood with respect to Internet regulation. Almost half said that they thought the government should regulate the Internet in much the same way that it regulates television and radio.
This trend toward government regulation of the Internet is due to fears about children being exposed to online violence or pornography and abuse by social networking predators.
A Look at Censorship.
Internet censorship is rising, and it is not just limited to communist China. For example, in the UK, a page wtihin Wikipedia (and in some instances, the entire Wikipedia site) was blocked because of a complaint filed with a quasi-governmental agency known as the IWF. Because the offending content was an image of an album cover, there was the possibility that Amazon's US shopping and auction content would be blocked from UK viewers.
Also in the censorship arena is the increasing volume of politicians who are complaining about blogs not correctly reporting the facts about their campaigns or other political events. Add to this mix the journalists and mainstream media who are seeing online content take a bite out of their readership and sales. While news and political reporting are not currently regulated in the United States, it would not be surprising if politicians begin to talk about licensing requirements or some form of authority ranking for blog owners and other online reporters.
Nationwide Filtering.
If it becomes law, Australia's 'great firewall' will be the most restrictive mandatory government control of the Internet in the world's democratic countries. The goal is to filter out child pornography, but the firewall has nonetheless sparked fierce debate, including free speech arguments. Reportedly, the government will ban at least 1300 websites. A problem is the lack of transparency or right to dispute a ban because the government has not disclosed the urls of the sites that will be on the banned list. Although the filter is not completely accurate and its effectiveness is therefore questionable, it slows down Internet speeds by up to 86%.
Internet Taxes.
For years, there have been rumors in the US about a federal internet tax, but nothing has come of it. Many Americans, including their representatives in Congress, are leery of an Internet sales tax. However, state governments are eyeing the Internet as a source of much-needed revenue. New York state, for instance, imposed various vendor and affiliate registration requirements that would make non-resident sellers responsible for reporting New York state sales taxes. Amazon, which has a strong worldwide affiliate program, has sued and as of this writing, a decision has not been rendered. Watch for Internet taxation to become an issue in upcoming years.
Licensing and Disclosures.
There has been talk by some legislators that people should be licensed to use the Internet. Their reasoning is that is someone is required to have a license to drive a car on our nation's highways, then it is not unreasonable to expect a person to get a license to surf the Internet's information highway. To get a license, users would have to pass a test on basic Internet and computer knowledge, such as how to use email, how to run an anti-virus program and so on. It is unlikely that this idea will gain any traction, but on the flip side, licensing and disclosures for Internet content publication may not be so ludicrous. With copyright violations, politicians griping about the accuracy of news, and regulations concerning what can and cannot be said with respect to medical or health related products online, public accountability is not a far fetched idea. Take, for instance, Canada's proposed Internet regulations (to be heard in February 2009) which would address Canadian copyright issues and might impose a rating system on websites that is similar to movie rating systems. Given the opinion of many Americans that the Internet should be regulated in the same way that radio and television is regulated, the logical conclusion is that Internet publishers will need to register with whatever agency is created to administer online media.
Conclusion.
The above examples provide a glimpse into what the future may hold when it comes to Internet regulation. Because so many people refuse to take responsibility for their children's Internet activities and for their own Internet use, it is likely that we as Internet publishers will see an increasing amount of regulatory proposals.
One thing that web publishers can do, right now, to start to protect themselves is to include a legally sound privacy policy statement on their websites. You can find out how to write a privacy policy at the NotGuru blog.
You can find periodic updates on the latest Internet regulatory trends here: Internet Regulation articles at the NotGuru blog.
posted by e-borneo.com @ 6:30 pm
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