[1][ISMAP] [2][LINK] [3]Click here for Microsoft Intranet Solutions [4]Content For Your Intranet [5]Click here for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Preview 2 Commentary: In Japan, Moves to Regulate the Net [6][LINK] [7][LINK] By TOMOKO SAITO c.1997 Asahi News Service T he following commentary appears in Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers: ----- Abusive uses of the Internet, such as the illegal posting of the photograph and name of a juvenile suspect in recent Kobe child killings, have spurred government officials to consider bringing the Net under some kind of regulation. Violations of privacy and libel cases began increasing conspicuously last year, giving rise to calls for the companies that provide access to the Internet to adopt voluntary controls. In February last year, a Tokyo company employee who opened a home page with a Japanese provider was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on charges of displaying obscene images. A series of arrests was made elsewhere. This spring, advisory bodies to the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry recommended that some rules be drafted. The Telecom Services Association of Japan, a trade body having about 400 providers as members, drew up draft guidelines for voluntary regulation. The guidelines call for providers to take action for improvement in response to complaints from users. Some providers have drafted manuals for self-regulation. The circulation of the Kobe student's photograph and his real name on the Net had a particularly strong impact, prompting authorities to think that voluntary regulations may be inadequate. But official regulation could deprive the Internet of its good points. The best thing about the Net is that it enables people to exchange information freely. That is why it has grown so rapidly. There are areas where new systems are needed to protect users, such as electronic financial transactions. But in areas relating to the freedom of expression, a cautious approach is required in dealing with abuses, so that the good points of the Internet will not suffer from regulation. What is unique about the Net is that anyone, in addition to being a recipient of information through the system, can easily become a supplier of information. That becomes possible for anyone who owns a personal computer, a communications modem and has access to a telephone circuit. A contract signed with a provider enables him or her to open a home page on the Net freely. Popular home pages have thousands of accesses a day, which gives an individual the influence of a publishing company. The Internet has the potential of transforming contemporary society in which those who send out information - such as newspapers and television stations - are separate from those who receive it - such as people in general. In Europe, calls to bring the Net under control started to mount last year. In Germany, a so-called multimedia law was passed in July to stipulate the scope of providers' responsibility in dealing with troubles, such as human rights violations and libel cases. The law requires providers to appoint officials to handle complaints or give advice on the impact on juveniles of violent and obscene information on the Net. Also in July, a working group set up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development held its first meeting to discuss international cooperation to bring the Net under control. France and Belgium were particularly vocal in calling for such a group. Compared with the Europeans, the Americans are more inclined to leave the matter of regulation to private initiatives. The Clinton administration's proposal to regulate indecent images on the Net under the telecommunications act ran into objections on the grounds that it could infringe on the freedom of expression. The Supreme Court ruled in June that the proposal was unconstitutional. In Japan, the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of expression naturally extends to individuals who supply information on the Internet. It follows that any kind of censorship about Net information should not be tolerated. Whether a certain expression is appropriate or not should be left up to people to determine in the ''freedom of thought'' market. Any attempt to force informal controls on providers should also be resisted, given the important role played by them as media in addition to being ''communications'' firms. As for the question of controlling obscene images, efforts to dissolve the gaps that have developed between the law and reality should come first. Porn books that are brought back from abroad are seized by customs officers, and a Japanese who opens a home page that shows nudes can be punished. But it is easy to access a more radical American home page, and no legal punishment awaits those who look at the images such a home page provides. The punitive provisions should be reexamined to determine whether they are really needed if people who do not want to see pornography are assured that they can avoid it. Of course, young people must be protected. A system that blocks access to porn and violence on the Net, when mounted in personal computers at home or at school, is being introduced in Western countries. Japan should consider following their example, but I believe whether or not to use it should be left up to the judgment of each household that has acquired it. ``Let us wait for the new media to mature by thoroughly educating information suppliers on their responsibility,'' said Jiro Makino, a lawyer familiar with Net troubles. What he has in mind is that suppliers who operate on the basis of the freedom of expression should have a high ethical standard and be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. I believe that is what it takes to head off state interference. ----- (The author is a reporter for Asahi Shimbun's City News Department.) 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