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This is very welcome indeed ... I wonder if it can/will be inbuilt into the
People's Network developments?

At the same time, without looking to develop a major debate about censorship
& internet access either in Public Libraries, other public access locations
or in general, some public library services might well welcome similar
energy going into identifying solutions for allowing safe access by younger
children to net content. Generally speaking. we're not set up to provide
constant and immediate direct staff supervision and it's almost a "Heinz 57"
approach wrestling with individual local solutions based on a variety of
commercial and home-grown options.

Clearly, the first priority has to be to protect children from involvement
in paedophilia and predatory intent, i.e. protection from the pornographer
before protection from pornography.

But there is just a trace of irony in seemingly not also engaging in the
issues involved in at least seeking to protect children from accidental or
deliberate access/exposure to quite unsuitable material on the web. We saw a
couple of unfortunate instances of this happening on the list not so long
ago.

Technical impossibility? ... or just not considered that important? ... or
just too hard to play with because of the international dimensions? And yet
so much effort goes into controlling/mitigating similar possibilities in
print/video/CDRom & TV formats, none of which are as of yet interactive.

A couple of years or so ago, it was a teenager who suggested in an internet
magazine that the solution on "pornography" was relatively simple ... and he
wasn't talking about sex & biology etc.. All "sex & pornography" sites
should be "forced" into a ".sex" domain and then it should be possible to
block access to them generically at various levels. Any site with
appropriate content not complying with this requirement should then be
pursued & shut down. Ok, no doubt there are a great many difficulties to
overcome to make something like this work ... but at least this teenager had
thought about the issue and come up with what on the face of it seemed like
quite a "smart" solkution. What will happen in the next 1-4 years time when
G3 communications technology converges with the already emerging WAP
phone/PDA phone/E-Book handheld technologies? Feast your eyes on 2MB live
pornographic feeds anywhere/anytime/anyplace ... kids?

Obviously ... just a personal concern thought aloud.

Mike
Mike Maguire
Group Librarian S & E Devon
Devon Lifelong Learning
01392 384223
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.devon.gov.uk/eal/
Unless otherwise stated the views expressed are
personal and not necessarily those of Devon County Council


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hanstock, Terry [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 29 March 2001 11:22
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      IMPROVING CHILD PROTECTION ON THE INTERNET: A PARTNERSHIP
> FOR ACT ION
>
> Home Office Press Release 092/2001
>
> 28 March 2001
>
> IMPROVING CHILD PROTECTION ON THE INTERNET: A PARTNERSHIP FOR ACTION
>
> A new taskforce is to be set up to help make UK cyberspace the safest
> place in the world for Internet users, Home Secretary Jack Straw
> announced today.
>
> The taskforce will include representatives of the Internet industry,
> child welfare organisations, the police and Government. Its
> establishment was agreed at a meeting of key representatives from
> these organisations, called by the Home Secretary as part of the
> Government response to the recent report by the Internet Crime Forum
> on child safety in Internet chatrooms. Other important groups not at
> today's meeting such as PC retailers will also be invited to
> participate.
>
> Chaired by Home Office Minister Lord Bassam, the taskforce members
> will work in partnership to identify and implement the best ways in
> which children can be better protected when using the Internet. Among
> the areas for action identified at the meeting were:
>
> - reviewing Internet content rating systems and developing a "kite
> marking" scheme for chatrooms which deliver child-friendly services;
>
> - developing "safe surfing" education and awareness campaigns for
> parents and children;
>
> - enhancing co-operation between police and communications service
> providers in the course of their investigations
>
> - reviewing existing legislation to ensure that the law continues to
> protect children from 'grooming' and other forms of abuse and keeps
> in step with changes in technology.
>
> Progress made by the taskforce will be reviewed by the Home Secretary
> at a further meeting in the summer.
>
> Following the meeting, Mr Straw said:
>
> "The Government is committed to tackling child abuse in any form -
> paedophiles and child pornographers must not be able to use new
> technologies with impunity. Government is playing its part, ensuring
> that the police have the powers to detect and pursue offenders, and
> that the courts have the powers to deal with them. What is illegal
> off-line is also illegal on-line. However if changes in the law
> prove necessary to prosecute and deter specific forms of on-line
> child abuse, the Government will act.
>
> "But the Internet industry itself has an important role to play, as
> its representatives were happy to acknowledge at this meeting. I
> welcome the assistance that the industry already provides to the
> police in the course of their investigations, and trust today's
> agreement will build on this partnership to create a safer and more
> secure online environment for our children.
>
> "Social responsibility is part of good business practice, I look
> forward to reviewing the efforts of the Internet industry and other
> parties at today's meeting in the summer. I am clear that the public
> will not tolerate anything but their best efforts to clean up the
> Internet for UK users."
>
> Roger Darlington, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation
> said:
>
> "The IWF stands ready to do everything in its power to rise to the
> Government's challenge so that, working with a range of partners, we
> can create the safest possible Internet environment for all our
> children.
>
> "We have already played a major role in the removal from UK servers
> of some 28,000 images of child pornography, and are now seeing
> whether we can assist Internet Services Providers to identify and
> remove those newsgroups which regularly host child pornography."
>
> Representing the Internet industry, Nicholas Lansman of the Internet
> Services Providers Association (ISPA) said:
>
> "The Internet industry takes the issue of child protection very
> seriously and is already working with law enforcement to tackle the
> problem. We welcome this new initiative and will join with other
> members of the taskforce to improve child protection on the
> Internet."
>
> Representing the police service, Bob Packham Deputy Director General
> of the National Crime Squad said:
>
> "A truly multi-agency approach is needed, with law enforcement, the
> Internet industry, Government, statutory and voluntary agencies and
> parents all focusing on one common goal - rooting out those who seek
> to abuse the Internet for paedophilic activity. Much good law
> enforcement work is already taking place, and we aim to build on that
> in the coming months."
>
> Representing child welfare organisations, John Carr of NCH said:
>
> "We welcome today's initiative - this is a crucial opportunity to
> move the debate on child protection on the Internet forward, and turn
> words into action."
>
> NOTES TO EDITORS
>
> 1. Announced as part of the Government response to the recent
> report by the Internet Crime Forum "Chat Wise Street Wise - Children
> and Internet Chat Services," (Home Office release 071/2001 refers),
> the meeting examined four key areas:
>
> - how to tackle the increasing problem of internet chatrooms being
> used as a means by paedophiles to groom and subsequently abuse
> children;
>
> - how to prevent access to child pornography available on parts of
> the internet;
>
> - how Internet Service Providers and the police can work in
> partnership to bring paedophiles on the internet to justice;
>
> - how to increase the confidence of parents that their children will
> be safe on the internet.
>
> 2. In addition to the Home Secretary, Home Office Minister Lord
> Bassam, and Government officials from the Home Office, DfEE, DTI and
> E-envoy, representatives from the Internet industry, child welfare
> organisations and the police service were invited to attend the
> meeting:
>
> Paul Burstow MP
> John Carr, NCH
> Chris Atkinson, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
> Children
> Nigel Williams, Childnet
> Alistair Gillespie, University of Teeside
> Bob Packham, National Crime Squad
> David Kerr, Internet Watch Foundation
> Nicholas Lansman, Internet Services Providers Association
> Roland Perry, LINX
> Jerry Roest, NTL
> Bill Allan, Thus plc
> Camille Du Stempel, AOL
> Richard Woods, UUNET
> Andy Green, BTOPENWORLD
> John Beaumont, Energis Squared
> Anne Mullins, Yahoo
> Matt Lambert, Microsoft
>
> 3. The Internet Crime Forum report "Chat Wise Street Wise -
> Children and Internet Chat Services," is posted on the ICF website at
> www.internetcrimeforum.org.uk. The ICF report makes a number of
> recommendations for Internet Service Providers, the police,
> Government and children's charities to ensure that Internet chat for
> children is "Chat Wise Street Wise":
>
> - education programmes should be aimed at parents and other carers to
> advise them of the potential risks to children using chat services
> and appropriate steps they can take to protect them;
>
> - Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should provide clear advice to
> their subscribers about child-friendly chat, and actively promote
> chat services specifically targeted at their age range;
>
> - children's chatrooms should be supervised ('moderated'), and a
> user-friendly reporting mechanism should be available for users to
> report incidents in chat rooms for investigation;
>
> - ISPs, user groups and children's organisations should develop a
> kitemarking scheme which would offer a simple way for parents to
> identify chat services which are safe for children;
>
> - the IT industry should continue to research better, cheaper and
> more user-friendly technical solutions to the potential dangers of
> chat, including measures to ensure an appropriate level of
> traceability for online abusers;
>
> - police officers should have specialised training and increased
> resources to ensure a prompt and effective response to reports of
> incidents in chat rooms;
>
> - relevant UK legislation should be kept under review to ensure that
> it can meet changing circumstances - on- and off-line - to protect
> children from abuse.