ISRAELI POLITICIANS TOY WITH LAWS TO CONTROL INTERNET CONTENT

1 June 2007

Communications Minister Ariel Atias busy drafting a bill to block free access to pornography, violence and gambling Web sites

The Israeli Communications minister, Ariel Atias is busy drafting a bill to block free access to pornography, violence and gambling Web sites, according to the Israeli publication Haaretz in an article published over the weekend headlined "Strictly Kosher Internet."

Haaretz reports that in the past year, Atias has succeeded in passing several important communications reforms, to the chagrin of the cellular telephone giants. Atias claims that in this multimedia era, it is unreasonable that pornography or harsh violence are meticulously trimmed from television programs, while the Internet has no censorship or control....and he is apparently trying to solve the problem with a particularly radical and aggressive move.

The proposed bill places the onus on ISPs to implement screening technology to prevent access to porn or online gambling sites unless such access is specifically requested by a subscriber who provides proof of identity and age. Atias has apparently discussed this matter with the Justice Ministry and communications professionals, in an attempt to reach an agreement on a mode for screening content.

ISPs already market optional content-screening software at the consumer end, but Atias says this is an unsatisfactory solution. He finds it hard to believe that families will voluntarily install screening software and feels content should be screened at the switching centres.

The bill is already attracting attention and opposition from groups that are concerned about its implications for invasion of privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of occupation, to name a few.

Atias seems to have applied a similar concept to controlling erotic content on cellular phones. He recently completed the first step toward increasing online supervision by ordering that the licenses of the cellular companies be amended. Free access to erotic services via cellular Web portals has been stopped - in order to receive such services, adult subscribers must send a copy of their ID card to the cell phone company.

This step has made it harder for minors to pose as adults, but despite this change, minors can still surf the Web freely, including to pornography sites, via their cell phones.

Haaretz claims that Atias' bill on Internet censorship is aimed at silencing claims that he is clamping down only on cellular services.

Instead of calling for outright censorship, Atias could require the ISPs to provide all their subscribers with the home screening software, and let parents decide whether to use it.

Another move to control the Internet has surfaced in the form of a proposal drafted by a political associate of Arias, who has suggested a bill calling for the use of advanced technology to achieve the same goal as the Arias bill. This proposal, by Knesset member Amnon Cohen requires that Internet users with a penchant for visiting undesirable sites will have to register with their Internet service provider (ISP), which will use a fingerprint-based biometric identification system to verify the subscriber is an adult. Without this ID such sites will be blocked.

Describing Cohen's bill as futuristic and currently impractical, Haaretz opines that such a system will be technologically possible in a few years, but in a country that has been waiting almost three years for the telephone number portability law to be implemented, the bill's chances of being passed into law are next to nil.

Cohen's bill was apparently meant to serve as a litmus test for Atias, to assess the reactions of the public, politicians and the industry regarding Web censorship in Israel.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa