From:

Dr Michael Baker
Member
ACS/EFA Joint Task Force

To:

Michael McLean
Secretary
Senate Select Committee on Community Standards
Suite SG.60
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT 2600

Fax:

06 2775809

Date:

29 September 1995.

Submission on the Regulation of Computer On-Line Services

Contents

• Introduction
• Recommendations

Introduciton

I am making this submission on behalf of the ACS/EFA Joint Task Force (JTF). Details about the JTF, ACS and EFA appear at the end of this submission.

Rather than provide a detailed submission this paper provides recommendations based on points made in earlier submissions to the Select Committee on Community Standards and in response to the the DCA Consultation Paper. All these previous submissions are available online via the World Wide Web (WWW). I request permission to make this submission available on the WWW also. This will simplify the readers access to the referenced documents.

The referenced submissions and their Universal Resource Locators (URL) on the WWW are:

• Previous ACS/EFA submission to the Senate Select Committee
  URL:http://www.acslink.net.au/~tomw/sensub1.html
• ACS/EFA Joint Task Force comments on the Consultation Paper
  URL:http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mbaker/jtf-cons.html
• EFA comments on the Consultation Paper
  URL:http://www.efa.org.au/EFA/reg.response
• Telstra comments on the Consultation Paper
  URL:http://www.pcug.org.au/~kauer/8sep.htm

Recommendations

Principles

In developing any regulatory scheme we recommend that the following principles should be applied:

Select a solution which will achieve the desired results

Before introducing a solution to the problem of contentious or undesirable material being available through on-line services consideration should be given to whether proposed solutions will achieve the desired results. In the opinion of the JTF the most effective solution will be self regulation by all parties, including recipients as well as authors, carriers, and access providers.

Before introducing new law consider effectiveness of existing law

While not wanting to comment on the merits of any cases, it should be noted that prosecutions for obtaining obscene material have and are being made under existing law.

Consider the costs as well as the benefits of any regulatory scheme

Depending on the type of regulation introduced there exists the posibility that regulaiton will effectivley shut down all, or most, Internet access providers. This would result in Australia and Australians being prevented from all the benefits of the fastest growing communicaitons medium on earth.

Individuals should only be held accoutable for that which they have control over

The consequences of not applying this principle will be to impose impossible and/or very high cost requirements on service providers, to the extent that they are driven out of business.

Privacy should not be violated

Any regulation should acknowledge that users of online services have an expectation that their private communications will remain private. Regulations should not be introduced which will require service providers to violate that privacy.

Acknowledge different roles and capabilities

The Telstra paper referenced above gives a good exposition of the different roles of players in the on-line service field. In summary the roles include authors, carriers, access providers and recipients. The differences between the roles and capabilities should be acknowledged. Responsibilities should be placed in the most appropriate place.

Plurality of "Community Standards" should not be used to limit access to material

The Internet, and any similar global networks, have the potential to provide us with access to material from all cultures on earth, and for us to provide material to peoples from all nations. The differences in "community standards" around the world could be used to limit material made available online to the lowest common denominator. This should be avoided as to do otherwise would severly limit the potential of global networks.

Australian "community standards" should only apply to what an Australian based author may make available. We should learn how to live with the availability of material from other countries that complies with the "community standards" of those countries.

Dialogue to discuss workable solutions

In his submission to the Select Committee in March, Tom Worthington called for the establishment of a dialogue between government and online community to discuss workable solutions. We appreciate the opportunity provided to make comment on the DCA Consultation Paper and and to make this submission. However we would encourage an expansion of this consultation process to allow a more rapid turn around of ideas. Such dialogue could be achieved via the mechanism of a mailing list. Electronic Frontiers Australia could establish such a mailing list if the Select Committee wishes to persue such a course of action.

Technical soulutions should be recognised, encouraged and supported

As pointed out in the Telstra paper, technical soultions to the problem of contentious material do exist and are under further development. The role of such soultions should be recognised, encouraged and supported.

Community education

If we as a nation are to gain the full benefits of emerging global information networks we will have to learn to live with the fact that such networks contain a very broad spectrum of material. Any Australian regulation of such networks will have a limited effect on the availability of contentious material. What is needed is a widespread program of community education on the whole range of material that is available online and on how to assist children avoid that which might harm or disturb them. ABOUT THE ACS/EFA JOINT TASK FORCE: The ACS/EFA Joint Task Force (JTF) was established by the ACS and EFA in February 1995 to:

• prepare an ACS and EFA draft response to the Federal Attorney-General's BBS Task Force Report.

• advise on additional actions to be taken, such as the development of a code of conduct and providing information to parents.

• advise on options for the ACS and EFA to have the Attorney-General's report distributed.

The terms of reference and life of the Joint ACS/EFA task force have been extended to cover the preparation of a response to the DCA Consultation Paper and a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Community Standards.

ABOUT THE ACS: The Australian Computer Society is the professional association in Australia for those in the computing and information technology fields. It was established in 1966. The Society has over 15,000 members and on a per capita basis is one of the largest computer societies in the world. Details are available on the Internet at: URL: http://www.acs.org.au/ by e-mail: info@acslink.net.au or from the ACS office in each state. Internet regulation issues will be discussed at the 14th World Computer Congress, to be hosted by the ACS in Canberra, September 1996.

ABOUT EFA: Electronic Frontiers Australia is an association of people with a common interest in computer based communication systems, online information services, electronic mail networks, and similar media. "Born" on Fidonet and the Internet last year, EFA arose out of a growing awareness by its founding members of the need for a community based organisation to become involved in the establishment of the national agenda for the delivery of data communication services to and within the Australian community-at-large. Details are available on the Internet at: URL: http://www.efa.org.au/EFA and by e-mail: efa-info@efa.org.au.

Dr Michael Baker MACS
Member, ACS/EFA Joint Task Force
Chairman, Electronic Frontiers Australia
P.O. Box 5
Flaxley SA 5153

Telephone: (08) 388 8439
E-mail: mbaker@cleese.apana.org.au

29 September 1995
URL updates: 27 Nobmeber 1995