G8 & Australia To Strangle The Net

Berlusconi plans to use G8 presidency to 'regulate the internet'

Italian president and media baron Silvio Berlusconi said today that he would use his country's imminent presidency of the G8 group to push for an international agreement to "regulate the internet".

Speaking to Italian postal workers, Reuters reports Berlusconi said: "The G8 has as its task the regulation of financial markets... I think the next G8 can bring to the table a proposal for a regulation of the internet."

Italy's G8 presidency begins on January 1. The role is taken by each of the group's members in rotation. The holder country is responsible for organising and hosting the G8's meetings and setting the agenda. Italy's last G8 presidency in 2001, also under Berlusconi, was marred by riots at the annual meeting in Genoa.

Berlusconi didn't explain what he meant by "regulate the internet", but the mere mention of it has prompted dismay among Italian commentators. Berlusconi owns swathes of the Italian mass media.

The left-wing newspaper L'Unita wrote: "You can not say that it is not a disturbing proclamation, given that the only countries in the world where there are filters or restrictions against internet are countries ruled by dictatorial regimes: those between China, Iran, Cuba, Saudi Arabia."

La Stampa reports Italian bloggers are planning to protest against any move by the president to tighten government control over the web tomorrow. They plan to display anti-Berlusconi banners on their websites.

Any G8 move next year to "regulate the internet" led by Berlusconi is likely to attract criticism. He has often been accused of using his power to try to silence dissent. He lost a long-running libel battle against The Economist earlier this year after it said he was not "fit to run Italy" and was this week suing American critic Andrew Stille for defamation*.

However, the governments of industrialised nations have been ramping up their rhetoric against internet content they view as unacceptable. The UK has introduced new laws and revived arcane ones to clamp down on extremist websites and niche pornography. Australia is busy implementing filters.

More Internet Woes for Australia

This month, the Australian government is rolling out firewalls to filter child-unfriendly sites.

Australia's Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy,(ABCDE?) Steven Conroy has a four year plan to spend $126m AUS to spearhead the "cyber-safety" initiative. The plan has already come under sharp opposition by groups including Simon Morton, Radio New Zealand's Technology Commentator.

"This would see the government establishing a blacklist of websites it deems harmful and ISPs providing a clean feed of the internet," he said.

Unsurprisingly, there are some that feel it doesn't hit hard enough. Whilst Britain and Canada have similar systems, none are Government mandated; and we all know how the Australian government feels about 18+ games.

The filter is also likely to put a drain on ISP speed. Similar studies have shown a drop of up to 86% in connectivity.

Senator Conroy already has 1,300 sites that he wants blacklisted (that few?), but 10,000 more are apparently on the "to do" list.

Christprof wrote:I don't care what the Italians say/do and neither do the other G8 leaders.

Cal wrote:

Christprof wrote:I don't care what the Italians say/do and neither do the other G8 leaders.

Except when someone drops the magic words 'child protection' into any discussion about restricting online freedoms. Suddenly the Italians are everyone's new best friend.

Jaxley wrote:No politician has the slightest clue about the Internet

massimo wrote:The point I think we're missing here though is that the internet will have to eventually be regulated in one way or another one day.

massimo wrote:...and one day someone will find out a way of really using it to devastating affect.

Cal wrote:
But you carry right on blithely supporting these measures to 'clean up' the interweb. You must be right.

chalkitdown wrote: