At 11:50 +0100 on 26-10-1996, Ross Anderson wrote:
snip
>
> What may be is the new proposal by UK ISPs that they will escape
> legislation about porn on the net by adopting a voluntary scheme (i.e.
> coercing it on their customers). Under this, all web pages will have to
> have a `rating', something akin to a cinema rating (Al-Hackem's will be
> XXX for sure!).
>
> To get this, your web pages will have to be submitted to an agency in
> America that claims IPR over this crazy idea, and in return for a fee
> they will issue the page with an official mark. The mark will
> intially be protected by trademark law (the bit string you need to
> include contains their trademark) and later by digital signatures.
>
> The idea is that future versions of Microsoft's and Netscape's
> browsers won't show pages without the authorised mark. Using it,
> parents can control what their kiddies see.
>
> Of course this would be the end for interactively generated web pages
> such as altavista, and the reaction from industry is `we won't use
> it' (CEO of banking software house with whom I discussed this
> yesterday evening). So hopefully it will all go away; it seems
> ludicrous that one American company might become the sphincter
> through which all the web authors in the world must wriggle. But if a
> panicky government were to legislate for it in the run-up to the
> election, then it could be the show stopper you fear
Ahmad Risk isn't the only one.
The idea that authorities think that thay can curb free speech is absurd.
I advice all to read '1984' again and think about all the Big Brothers
watching,
get the creeps and
react.
Gerard Freriks,huisarts, MD
C. Sterrenburgstr 54
3151JG Hoek van Holland
the Netherlands Telephone: (+31) (0)174-384296/ Fax: -386249
Mobile : (+31) (0)6-54792800
ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS
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