Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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Being an ISP would be cool right?
Get a digital connection to the rest of the world, hook up a few phone lines
and some IPNet circuits, throw a few old PCs in a room, add some routers,
a bit of admin software and Bob's your uncle.
Then just sit back and wait for customers to sign up and pay you a regular
monthly sum for access to all this technology and bandwidth. What could
be easier?
Well ask any real ISP and they'll tell you that it's not quite that simple.
Check Out The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Updated 2-Dec-2002
What's more, it's about to get a whole lot harder and riskier.
This morning's online edition of IDG.net.nz
carries a couple of very good reports by Paul Brislen which should be ringing
some warning bells.
It would appear as if Government thinks ISPs ought to shoulder more of the burden
and responsibility when it comes to the policing of "objectionable material".
Paul picked out one quote relating to ISPs from the government's ponderings which, if I were
an ISP, I would find rather offensive: "in order to control their behaviour".
I think you can see the obvious implication.
There is the presumption that ISPs are not "behaving" properly.
The committee effectively defames ISPs by suggesting that their behaviour is
of a standard that is so poor as to require regulation, even though, in almost
the same breath it is acknowledged that the Dept of Internal Affairs receives
a high level of assistance when requested.
Could government be using kiddy-porn as an excuse to introduce a greater level
of "control" over the Net and to pave the way for widespread monitoring of
online activities?
If things keep going the way they seem currently headed, how long before
only approved (ie: breakable) encryption is allowed, with a condition
of use being that all encryption keys are logged with your ISP so that
your transfers can be scanned for "illegal content"?
And what about the poor ISPs who, if some provisions of the select committee
are adopted, will be left facing significantly greater compliance costs
and obligations to detect and report the misdeeds of their users.
Are ISPs to lose their "carrier" status and become responsible for the
material that passes through their routers?
Now, as I mentioned earlier this week,
children and porn are not a good combination. To this end, I'm all in favour
of any moves that might address the problem -- but I'm still a little worried
about the possible implication of the suggestions being made by the select committee.
I'm also very annoyed that even though global authorities seem quite capable
of working together to clamp down on such vile activities as trading child
porn over the Net, they seem totally disinterested in doing a damned thing
about the much larger (albeit in scale rather than severity) problem of spam --
and in particular, the hardcore pornographic spam that gets delivered by email
to our 8 and 9 year olds every day of the week.
As I said in Tuesday's column, porno spam is MUCH bigger problem. It's also
one which I'm sure affects a far greater number of children and families
than child pornography per se -- yet it's still being completely ignored.
Come on government -- be consistent please!
Lighten Up
Need a break from all that mind-numbing work? Why not drop in to
this site
where you can engage in a little
Papal Bowling,
clear a minefield with Barney,
beat up Jerry Springer, and much more.
Sorry, I'm a bit short of time this morning so that'll have to do ya for this
week!
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publication of Aardvark, the bills still exceed the income by a fairly
significant amount. It is with this in mind therefore that I'm once
again soliciting donations from anyone who feels they're getting some
value from this daily column and news index. I've gone the PayPal
way of accepting donations because the time involved in processing a bunch
of little credit-card billings sometimes exceeds the monetary value they
represent. Just click on the button to donate whatever you can afford.
NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally donate twice
what you were intending :-)
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