– By Andrew Mcgregor Essay, Research Paper
The Internet has emerged as a dynamic new communications medium at an astounding pace in recent years. It enables the exchange of text, sound, video and images between millions of individuals from all around the world in a manner not possible via traditional media. But along with the growth of these services and the benefits they can provide for enhanced communication, entertainment and educational services, concerns have been raised around the world about the content of these services. The nature of these concerns often reflects the different cultural, religious and political values of the international community. The paper outlines the preliminary findings of a pilot study presently carried out by ABA. It considers the issues related to the content of online services, the impact of recent technical developments such as Platform for Content Selection (PICS) and content labeling. It compares regulatory responses in four countries and identifies areas of potential international cooperation.
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1. Introduction
The Internet is a dynamic new communications medium which has emerged at an astounding pace in recent years. The Internet, is one of many on-line services which offers a revolutionary means by which individuals and organisations can communicate, entertain, educate and inform. There is no central control or ownership of the Internet and the functions performed by the participants in the on-line environment are not as fixed as in existing media publications and broadcasting models. Most significantly, a person from anywhere around the globe can create content and make it available on-line.
The Internet has enormous potential as a means to enhance the diversity of information and entertainment available to individuals and corporations around the world. Its relatively low barriers to entry, which are identical for both speakers and listeners, provides access to all who wish to participate in the medium, and even creates a relative parity among speakers. It has been described as ‘the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed’.
However, along with the growth of these services, and a recognition of the enormous benefits which they can provide, concerns have been raised around the world about the impact of the Internet, particularly in terms of the content which can be provided and accessed on-line. Some have argued that there is nothing that can be done to manage Internet content, whilst others state that the issues can only be tackled by international cooperation. In the meantime many countries have been investigating and/or implementing their own regulatory measures in relation to the Internet and other on-line services.
In January 1997 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) commissioned a pilot study from the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) on the Internet and International Regulatory Issues. The pilot study has four main objectives. The first is to examine the nature of the on-line environment. The second is to identify some of the legal and ethical issues which arise in that environment, particularly as they relate to content. The third objective is to collect comparative data on the approaches taken by four countries, namely Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom in response to these issues. The fourth objective is to discuss the feasibility of a larger comparative study which may be undertaken following consideration of the pilot study.
The ABA is due to report to UNESCO in mid 1997. As the study is not yet complete I cannot report on all of the findings in this paper. However, I will outline the approach taken in the study and identify some of the trends which have emerged to date.
Countries Included in Pilot Study and Methodology
The countries selected for the pilot study are Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. These four countries were not intended to be representative in any way and are dealt with in alphabetical order in respect of the topics considered in the study. The four countries do not represent all the major geographic regions of the world nor of the range of national responses to concerns about on-line content. Rather they were selected for the following reasons.
+ Given the short time frame for the pilot study, ie. approximately 10 weeks, the ABA was conscious of the availability of existing information and the ease of obtaining additional information on the regulatory responses to on-line services in the countries selected;
+ The ABA was also conscious of choosing countries which already had proposed or introduced measures in place in relation to on-line content;
+ It was considered useful to have at least one ‘less developed’ country in the pilot study to provide a comparison to responses in ‘more developed’ nations;
+ The countries selected are located in three of the major geographic regions in the world – Asia, Europe and the Pacific.
It was considered that four countries was the maximum number that could be dealt with in the pilot study in the time available. The collection of information for the pilot study was largely undertaken using information available on the World Wide Web (www) and through library sources. Contact has been established with a number of relevant government agencies and experts in the four countries to inform them of the study and their comments on the material in the drafts in terms of accuracy and completeness are being sought.
2. The Nature Of The On-Line Environment
The Internet consists of a network of computer networks which span the world. The Internet was developed in the 1960’s for military purposes, as a decentralised communications system which could survive damage to one part of the network. Decentralisation remains an important characteristic of the Internet.
By the 1970s, academics began to use the Internet as the computer networks which had emerged in universities were first linked with networks in other academic institutions and later to the Internet.
In recent years there has been a dramatic expansion in Internet usage around the globe with an equally dramatise increase in the amount and range of material available on-line. Part of the reason for the growth in Internet usage flows from the relatively low costs of participation relative to other media. The necessary equipment comprises a computer, a modem and access to a telephone line, the cost of which is not insignificant but which is within the reach of many individuals and organisations.
It is important to note that the Internet did not depend on commercial incentives for its growth. Rather it has developed essentially from a desire to share and obtain information, entertain, and communicate. Many Internet users view themselves as part of an ‘Internet community’.
The on-line environment has now become a rapidly expanding international medium in which literally millions of users are providing and accessing content on a daily basis. For this reason the Internet offers unprecedented variety and quantity of content that is continuously changing as content is added, updated and moved around the world.
As no single entity controls the operation of the Internet or the material available on it, it is impossible to form a picture at any point in time of what exactly the Internet looks like, its size or the quality or quantity of content available. Content accessible on the Internet is stored in thousands of linked computers and is equally available by and from governments, corporations, interest groups, institutions and individuals from anywhere around the world. At present most of this content is provided free of charge. Whilst material can be accessed from any computer connected to the network, it is important to note that the content may be actually stored on a number of different computers or ’servers’, which need not be in the same jurisdiction as the person accessing or creating the material.
Participants in the On-line Environment
In order to understand the nature of the Internet it is useful to identify the functions which are being performed by those who are participating in the medium. These functions include providing content, accessing content, connecting others to the network and/or providing the telecommunications infrastructure. However, it is important to recognise that, unlike traditional broadcasting and publication models where the roles of content providers, publishers and viewers tend to be fairly fixed, the activities being performed by a participant on the Internet often encompass more than one function and many participants perform different functions at different times.
Of all the functions being performed in the on-line environment the distinction between ‘users’ and ‘content providers’ may be the most blurred. This is because any person or organisation can access and/or add to content available at any time. For example, a person can read and send text to a newsgroup or mailing list, create a web site or browse and retrieve information, all of which may occur in the same Internet session. Accordingly, drawing a distinction between accessing content and providing content is more a theoretical construct that usefully describes the two separate functions, which are often performed by the same participant in the on-line environment.
However, for the purpose of the pilot study, the term ‘user’ is generally used to refer to a consumer of on-line services who accesses material available on-line, typically via a link with the network through a service provider. A ‘content provider’ is described as a person or organisation which provides content in the on-line environment. Content may comprise text, data, still graphics, audio, video, computer programs or a combination of all of these.
Organisations and individuals who provide access to on-line services to other users and content providers are referred to as ’service providers’. This incorporates those who merely provide access to the computer network which makes up the Internet, sometimes called ‘access providers’, as well as those who provide access along with additional services to their clients, such as assisting clients to transform content into an attractive format display on the world wide web, facilitating easy access to new and/or interesting sites and help desk facilities.
Service providers range in size from individuals to small businesses, universities, government corporations and multinational organisations with operations in several countries. Service providers usually provide their clients with ’space’ to store content, such as web sites, on their computers, which are sometimes called ’servers’. This enables their clients to create and provide Internet content which can be accessed by other Internet users. Different service providers have different policies regarding the material which their clients provide and store on their servers. Some service providers requiring content providers to meet certain standards, whilst others do not wish to concern themselves with the nature of content at all.
Some service providers also temporarily store or ‘cache’ popular Internet content from remote computers onto their servers in order to facilitate faster and more efficient access to this material for their users. Service providers who provide access to the Internet operate as part of a network of computers. Accordingly, they enable users to access content contained on their own servers, as well as material held on the network of computers which make up the Internet, which may be stored on computers within the country in which the service providers operate, or on other computers around the world.
It is important to recognise that due to the vast amounts of Internet content which can be accessed from computers all around the world, along with the fact that Internet content is constantly changing, service providers are often not aware of, and are not in a position to be aware of, most of the material which can be accessed by those who use their service. Encryption transfers and the use of alternative routes and protocols further exacerbates this issue and renders the blocking of even those sites which have been identified extremely problematic.
The network infrastructure necessary to support on-line services in any country is usually provided by telecommunication carriers. In the pilot study the parties who provide this service are referred to as a network infrastructure providers. On-line service providers usually lease telephone and data line capacity directly from the network infrastructure providers, or from ‘resellers’. In some cases, a corporation may perform two separate functions in the on-line environment so that they fall within the definition of both a network infrastructure providers and a service providers.
Potential Uses and Opportunities Presented by On-line Services
The potential uses and opportunities presented by the Internet for enhancing the way we communicate and access information, educational and entertainment resources appear to be unlimited. Some of the major modes of communication presently available on the Internet include e-mail, newsgroups, the World Wide Web, Internet Relay Chat, voice and teleconferencing facilities to name only a few. Each of these services can be used for a wide range of purposes and each uses its own set of technical protocols. Given the extremely dynamic nature of the Internet, it is highly likely that the range and nature of the services available throughout the medium will continue to develop at a rapid rate.
As a Means of Communication
From the time the Internet was first developed it has been used for virtually all forms of communication, from one-to-one communications to one-to-many communications. Forums also exist for group discussions in real time, as well as over time.
One of the main methods of communications is Electronic mail, or e-mail as it is widely known. E-mail allows users to send text messages and files to one another via personal computers. Its popularity stems from convenience, speed of delivery and low cost, as well as the capacity to reach millions of people throughout the world. In addition, the ability to transmit files of information in the form of documents, spreadsheets, graphics, sounds and computer programs as attachments to messages makes e-mail a powerful application. E-mail is increasingly being used as a mainstream form of communication for individuals, governments, educational bodies and industry.
E-mail messages are most often used for private communication, as they are addressed to an individual person or group of named individuals. In this respect, e-mail can perform a similar function to letters, faxes and telephone calls.
E-mail messages can also be sent to groups of people who are members of mailing lists. These lists are usually maintained on specific computers to which individuals can subscribe by submitting their e-mail addresses. While some mailing lists are not controlled in any way, others are supervised in that each message sent to the list is reviewed by a moderator who then decides whether to allow the message to be sent on to members. Similarly, the acceptance of new members to a list may be controlled by a moderator.
An e-mail can also serve as a form of identification when a person subscribes to additional services or seeks to access content from other computers. However, it is important to note that e-mail addresses need not reflect the actual name of any given person or organisation and a person may have several e-mail addresses and/or use pseudonyms or aliases in their on-line communications. E-mail addresses can also be falsified.
Usenet ‘newsgroups’ are another popular mode of communication. The term ‘newsgroups’ generally refers to a world wide distributed system of discussion fora. Fora have been set up on virtually every topic imaginable and users whose service provider subscribes to a particular ‘newsgroup’ can access and participate in these open group discussions. Messages are posted onto news servers which are distributed to other news servers around the world. Content providers may identify themselves or participate anonymously.
Content providers can also communicate with a wide audience by establishing a web site on which they can display text, graphics, or provide video, audio services and software.
The ability to use these modes of communication to reach a potentially international audience is one of the most important aspects of the Internet. It has the potential to enhance social and political participation of individuals and enable the exchange of ideas across geographic and political boundaries.
As an Educational Resource
The Internet’s capacity as an educational and cultural resource is enormous. Via the Internet users can access data bases, texts, journals, articles, reports, state documents, encyclopedias and legislation which are held by public and university libraries, government departments and organisations around the world. Many art galleries, museums and cultural institutions have also established web sites containing images and information about works in their collections, providing an enormous amount of musical, video and other audio material of educational value.
The Internet also enables researchers and students to communicate directly with others with similar interests around the world. For this reason the Internet has been an extremely important resource for a large number of educational organisations for over a decade and the use of on-line services is well-established in the university and research environments. In recent years, other sectors of education including schools have begun to utilise on-line technologies to extend the reach and effectiveness of teachers’ work in terms of curriculum development, delivery of material and provision of professional support and development services.