EC to require "voluntary" tagging of harmful materials

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

[Is it just me or have a bunch of international bureaucrats suddenly
decided they really, really want to regulate the Net? Of course this has
been in the works for some time. Reference:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/Declan_McCullagh/iu.plague.073196.article --
Declan]

********

BRUSSELS (November 17, 1997 1:53 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - The
European Commission is set to suggest guidelines on
Tuesday for codes of conduct aimed at protecting children from harmful
material on the Internet or other online networks.

The codes would be drawn up by service providers themselves in each of the
15 European Union countries, reflecting the
Commission's preference for self-regulation in the sensitive area of
Internet content.

Reluctant to propose new legislation to rein in the global computer
network, the Commission says in a draft report that the EU
must respect the "fundamental democratic principles of freedom of
expression and respect for privacy."

The report, expected to be adopted at the Commission's weekly meeting in
Strasbourg, proposes that EU ministers adopt a
recommendation asking governments and industry players to cooperate to keep
sexually explicit and other harmful online
material away from children.

The central plank of the recommendation, parts of which would cover the
television industry as well, is a network of voluntary
codes of conduct.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, says the codes should
ensure that legal but potentially harmful online
material is flagged in some way -- for example, through warning pages,
descriptive labelling or systems to check ages of users.

Parents and teachers should when possible also be given tools to filter out
unwanted content so that children can use computer
networks without supervision, it says.

Users could install filter software themselves or operators could limit
access to certain sites, the proposal says.

The codes should also set up "hotlines" for handling complaints about
illegal content that is "offensive to human dignity," as well
as rules for cooperating with judicial and police authorities to combat the
circulation of such material, it says.

They should also introduce "dissuasive measures" for companies who violate
the codes, with appeal and mediation procedures
available.

The report asks the broadcast industry to experiment with new means of
protecting minors and informing viewers, although it
gives no specific suggestions. It also asks each country to set up a
national body able to share information with its EU
counterparts.

The United States is also searching for ways to shield children from
harmful Internet material after the Supreme Court in June
struck down parts of a law banning indecent material as unconstitutional.