Internet politics, policy and legal news

by Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)

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2001-2002 NEWS

• All Party Internet Group to hold public inquiry into the retention of and access to communications data for law enforcement purposes: Deadline for comments 06 December, 2002.

• November 2002: The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers today adopted the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime: The Protocol requires States to criminalise the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems, as well as racist and xenophobic-motivated threat and insult including the denial, gross minimisation, approval or justification of genocide or crimes against humanity, particularly those that occurred during the period 1940-45.

• EPIC and Privacy International launch the Privacy and Human Rights 2002 Report: An International Survey of Privacy Laws and Developments, September 2002.

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  The report paints a bleak picture of the erosion of the right to privacy, particularly since the September 11th attacks in the United States. It singled out Britain amongst developing countries because of an anti-privacy "pathology" within government. The report observed: "crime and public order laws passed in recent years have placed substantial limitations on numerous rights, including freedom of assembly, privacy, freedom of movement, the right of silence, and freedom of speech." The report identified a trend in Britain toward mass surveillance of the general population, and cited a catalogue of illegal spying and surveillance activities by UK agencies.

• R v IPSWICH CROWN COURT, EX PARTE NTL GROUP LTD ([2002] EWHC 1585 (Admin): Where the claimant telecommunications company had been required to preserve a client's e-mail communications pending a court order to produce that material, it was implicit in Sch.1 para.11 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 that it had the necessary power to take that action. This implicit power provided lawful authority for intercepting the e-mail such that no offence would be committed under s.1 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000)

• Draft Council of Europe Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet (09/04/2002) The Group of Specialists on on-line services and democracy has decided to invite the public to comment on a draft Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet (EN / FR). Please send your comments to the Media Division by 1 May 2002. 

• CoE is also drafting a Second Protocol on Cybercriminality to cover also terrorist messages and the decoding thereof

• European Commission adopts extension of Action Plan to Make the Internet a Safer Place - 25 March, 2002: The European Commission has decided to extend the Safer Internet Action Plan for an additional period of two years. The Commission now proposes a new phase of the current Action Plan ensuring it to run until

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  the end of 2004. "Content and applications are high on our agenda when it comes to the development of the Internet" said Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society. "But we must also ensure that the Internet becomes a safer place for us all. This Action Plan contributes to that process. We will now focus on raising awareness of safer Internet use, particularly for personalised, interactive (such as chatting and on-line games) and mobile applications and for other new applications that have emerged since the inception of the initial Action Plan."

• The Council of Europe published the Preliminary draft of the First Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime  on the criminalisation of acts of a racist or xenophobic nature committed through computer systems  and its Explanatory Report, 19 February, 2002. See further the CyberCrime section.

• House of Lords (Hansard), Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill, 04 December, 2001. This involves the House of Lords discussions on Part 11 of the Bill: Retention of Communications Data

• First Year Statistics under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 have been published.

• UK Anti-Terrorism, Crime, and Security Bill has been published - 13 November, 2001: The Bill includes a section on retention of communications data Regularly updated: 19 November, 2001

• 30 states sign the Convention on Cybercrime at the opening ceremony: Budapest, 23.11.2001 - The Convention on Cybercrime was opened for signature today in Budapest. It is the first ever international treaty on criminal offences committed against or with the help of computer networks such as the Internet. Ministers or their representatives from the 26 following Member States signed the treaty: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States, who took part in the drafting, also signed the treaty today. Other non-member States may also be invited by the Committee of Ministers to sign this treaty at a later date.
  See further the CyberCrime section of Cyber-Rights.Org

• The Guardian, Police get sweeping access to net data, November 7, 2001 "Blunkett will not limit scope of measure to terrorist cases. The Guardian has established that the detailed communications data to be retained as part of the government's response to the September 11 attacks will be available to police investigating minor crimes. It will also be available for tax collection and public health and safety purposes."

• The Guardian (Media section), Farewell web freedom? October 22, 2001

• Yahoo News, Internet 'grooming' legislation faces delays, 02 October, 2001.

• CoE Convention to combat crime in cyberspace approved by Ministers' Deputies - 19 September, 2001

• Reuters, China shuts down 2,000 Net cafes, July 20, 2001 - China has shut down nearly 2,000 Internet cafes across the country and has ordered 6,000 to suspend  operations and make changes, state media said on Friday. Freedom of Expression and the Internet in China, A Human Rights Watch Backgrounder, July 2001. China - Internet: A Chronicle of Repression (Reporters Sans Frontiers)

• ZDNet UK News, Home Office to criminalise chatroom meetings, July 20, 2001
  ZDNet UK, IWF lambasted for plan to ban newsgroups, July 19, 2001

• European Parliament approves Cappato Report in relation to privacy in electronic communications, 11 July, 2001 The European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee approved today the report by Marco Cappato (Radical MEP of the Lista Bonino) on the draft EU Commission proposal for a directive on privacy in electronic communications, with 22 votes in favour, 12 against and 5 abstentions, under the co-decision procedure. For reactions read ZDNet UK, European Parliament restricts access to personal data, 12 July, 2001 For documents and up-to-date information see the Statewatch Observatory on Surveillance in Europe pages

• Great leap forward - There are now almost 400 internet cafes in Shanghai. But for some the internet means prison, not freedom, writes John Gittings in the Online Section of the Guardian, 12 July, 2001

• Information Commissioner, Annual Report 2001  Responding to Cybercrime (pages 14-15) and the Council of Europe Cyber-crime Convention  (pages 35-36), July 12, 2001. The retention of traffic data beyond the period demanded by technical and commercial reasons would be an invasion of the right to private life assured by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
  See further, Complaints over data privacy soar, The Guardian, July 12, 2001

• BBC News, Net firm wins Bulger ruling, 10 July, 2001 - An internet service provider (ISP) has won protection from being punished if its users breach the injunction protecting the new identities of the Bulger killers.  See also ZDNet UK coverage, Demon reverses Bulger injunction for ISPs and The Guardian, ISP wins Bulger injunction challenge and Internet Firm wins Bulger protection The Times, Court eases Bulger risk for Web firms ZDNet UK, ISPs hail 'common-sense' approach to regulation, 11 July, 2001 The Guardian, Nobody rules OK? July 16, 2001
  The high court has just decided that internet service providers are not responsible for the content of  their sites. But, asks Steve Dunne, if they aren't, then who is? The Times, Will Bulger killers escape the Net? July 13. 2001 “We have 9.9 billion Web addresses served globally every day from our service,?says Clare Gilbert, of America Online and the current chairman of the Internet Service Providers?Association. “These kinds of numbers make it absolutely impossible to monitor the content. How then are we supposed to take reasonable steps to block content, and what value judgments are we as ISPs supposed to make to comply??nbsp;

• Cappato Draft Report on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (COM(2000) 385 ?C5-0439/2000 ?2000/0189(COD)) See also the Cryptome version.

• Minority Opinion of Maurizion Turco (Lista Emma Bonino) for the European Parliament Temporary Committee on Echelon report, 05 July, 2001. Note also the second minority opinion drafted by Ilka Schroeder MEP (Germany) and signed by MEPs Alima Boumediene-Thiery (France) and Patricia McKenna (Ireland)

• Echelon: the risk is there - precautions are needed European Parliament Press Release, 09 July, 2001

• European Parliament resolution on the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ECHELON interception system), July 4, 2001

• EPIC reports: US Appeals Court Upholds Anonymous Online Speech: In the first appellate decision to address the issue, a New Jersey appeals court has established stringent procedural and evidentiary standards that must be met before the identity of an anonymous online poster can be disclosed through litigation. Those protections have long been urged by EPIC and other public interest groups. The court recognized the constitutional right to communicate anonymously and refused to order the identification of a "John Doe" speaker who had posted comments on a Yahoo! message board (a PDF version of the decision is available) - July 2001.

• A New Report from the Privacy Foundation has been released: The Extent of Systematic Monitoring of Employee E-mail and Internet Use, July 2001. 14 Million U.S. Workers under Continuous Online Surveillance Inexpensive Technology Drives Adoption of Employee Monitoring

• BBC News, Net firm fights Bulger injunction, 10 July, 2001 - An internet service provider (ISP) is to argue it should not be held responsible for material posted on its web pages that contravenes an injunction protecting James Bulger's killers. Demon Internet's case will be heard by the judge who imposed the injunction designed to keep Robert Thompson and Jon Venables' new identities and whereabouts secret. Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, president of the Family Division at the High Court, will hear Demon's case that it could currently be held responsible for breaching the injunction if a third party were to post contemptuous material on the web. 

• European Committee on Crime Problems (2001) 'Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyberspace (PC-CY)', Final Draft Convention on Cyber-crime,?CDPC (2001) 17, Strasbourg, 29 June 2001. Note also the Final Draft Explanatory Report to the Convention on Cyber-Crime.

• ZDNet UK News, "EU Council agrees to Internet snooping proposals," June 28, 2001.

• Sarah Left, Injunctions will not protect Bulger's killers, The Guardian, June 28, 2001.

• The Register, Criminal Law Review tears strips off RIP Act, 29 May, 2001.

• ZDNet UK, "Outdated laws make the worldwide secrecy order unenforceable outside the United Kingdom," 25 June, 2001.

• BBC News, Net crime plans unveiled, 20 May, 2001. Labour Party's Internet plans include: Paedophile Prevention Orders, Rating systems for family friendly ISPs, and pre-installed child safety software

• Statewatch report: May 2001: EU governments to give law enforcement agencies access to all communications data, Summary, Full Report, Related Documents: See also the Statewatch Observatory on Surveillance in Europe

• ZDNet UK, Home Office Web site adopts adult rating, 04 May, 2001: The Home Office has caused a stir among the Internet industry for quietly adopting the Internet Content Rating Association's (ICRA) labelling system for its Web site in the run up to the General Election. 

• The Guardian, No Yahoo! for racist UK website, May 1, 2001.

• New ACLU Advertisement Highlights Massive U.S. Government Electronic Surveillance - APRIL 2001.

• Freedom House Annual Report includes surprising assessment of Internet Freedom, New York, April 30, 2001: In the absence of adequate data from 55 nations, 131 countries were examined in the report, with 58 (44 percent) rated Least Restrictive, 55 states (42 percent) considered Moderately Restrictive, and 18 (14 percent) rated Most Restrictive. The entire report can be found online as a PDF file. 

• Report of debates of the Second Part of the 2001 Ordinary Session on the Draft Cyber-Crime Convention, Council of Europe, 
  Parliamentary Assembly (Assembly Spring Session, 23-27 April 2001), 24 April, 2001. For further information about the CoE 
  draft CyberCrime Convention see the Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)  Cybercrime Policy Making Process pages

• Home Office plan on IMPROVING CHILD PROTECTION ON THE INTERNET: A PARTNERSHIP FOR ACTION.  See also the Internet Crime Forum report, Chat Wise, Street Wise ?children and Internet chat services and  the BBC coverage, Net paedophiles face crackdown, 29/03/2001

• The Guardian, Britain is untrustworthy, say MEPs in spy inquiry, April 25, 2001.

• The Guardian, Online Activists arrested in China, 19 April, 2001: Police in China have detained a veteran activist who printed out pro-democracy material from a website and an engineer whose site carried a vehement denunciation of communism, a human rights group said today.

• The Guardian, Government launches cyber-crime unit, Wednesday 18 April, 2001. BBC News, Cybercops arrest online liberty, 18 April, 2001.
  See further the NCIS press release, Launch of the United Kingdom's first National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.

• BBC News, Call for loyalist websites clampdown, Thursday, 29 March, 2001: The government must clamp down on loyalist websites containing death threats against individuals and towns, a Northern Ireland Assembly member has said. John Dallat said Home Secretary Jack Straw should take similar taskforce action against the loyalist websites as that being directed at internet chatrooms used by paedophiles.

• Better Regulation Task Force Recommendations related to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 - March 2001.
  Note also: Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) Response to Better Regulation Task Force Review of E-Commerce, 12 October, 2000. Better Regulation Task Force Review of e-commerce, Regulating Cyberspace: better regulation for e-commerce, (PDF version) was published on 14 December, 2000. See also the Principles of Good Regulation and the related pages. The Government response to the Task Force review is published in March 2001.

• "The Working Party takes the view that the Council of Europe, in promoting international co-operation in matters of cyber-crime outside its own membership, needs to pay particular attention to the protection of fundamental

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  rights and freedoms, especially the right to privacy and personal data protection. The Working Party therefore sees a need for clarification of the text of the articles of the draft convention because their wording is often too vague and confusing and may not qualify as a sufficient basis for relevant laws and mandatory measures that are intended to lawfully limit fundamental rights and freedoms. Explanations in the explanatory memorandum cannot replace legal clarity of the text itself." - Opinion 4/2001 on the Council of Europe's Draft Convention on Cyber-crime (European Commission) Document adopted by the Data Protection Working Party, March 2001. (PDF version also available)

• Head of UK National Technical Assistance Centre (NTAC) announced, 30/03/2001.
  NTAC will give law enforcement agencies the ability to fight crime in the information age and provide a facility for the processing of lawfully intercepted communications and lawfully seized protected electronic data, which can then be used to bring serious criminals to justice.

• Akdeniz, Y.; Taylor, N.; Walker, C., Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (1): Bigbrother.gov.uk: State surveillance in the age of information and rights, (2001) Criminal Law Review, (February), pp. 73-90 at http://www.cyber-rights.org/documents/crimlr.pdf
  (Published in this format with permission from Sweet & Maxwell, the publishers of the Criminal Law Review)

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE COLUMBIA/WILLAMETTE INC. V AMERICAN COALITION OF LIFE ACTIVISTS, 99-35320, 03/28/01. See also "Seven doctors have been murdered, now judges rule in favour of abortion hit," The Guardian, Friday March 30, 2001; and Wired News, "Anti-Abortion Site Wins Appeal," 28 March, 2001.

• Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) response to the Internet Watch Foundation on its discussion paper on the availability of child pornography through the Usenet discussion groups (newsgroups), 30 January, 2001. A PDF version is also available.
  A PDF version is also available. 

• Ellison, L., & Akdeniz, Y., "Cyber-stalking: the Regulation of Harassment on the Internet," [1998] Criminal Law Review, December Special Edition: Crime, Criminal Justice and the Internet, pp 29-48.

• OUT NOW: Yaman Akdeniz, Clive Walker, and David Wall, The Internet, Law and Society, Longman. Published in December 2000; Price ?9 (approx); Pages 400 (approx), ISBN 1 582 35656 3 (Pbk). For the details of the book see http://www.cyber-rights.org/bookstore

• MP warns UK ISPs in relation to Internet content that promotes adoption on the Internet  - 22 January, 2001 - From John Hutton MP, Minister of State, To Mr Nicholas Lansman, Internet Service Providers Association

• Draft Convention on Cyber-crime - Version No. 25 - (Word format only), 22 December, 2000.
  This text has been declassified after the last Plenary meeting of Committee PC-CY, held in Strasbourg, from 11 to 15 December 2000. This text has also been submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly for opinion, which is expected to give its opinion in April 2001. In the light of this opinion, the text will be subject to a further revision by the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), which is then expected to approve it at its next Plenary session in June 2001. The text then will be submitted to the Committee of Ministers for adoption.

• Read the Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) statement for the Palermo Conference, 11 December, 2000.

New pages added: December 2000
Information related to Cybercrime Policy Making Process within the Council of Europe, European Union, G8, and the United Nations

Internet Detective: Censorship, National Security, and Freedom of Information - Added December 2000.
A case of censorship or protection of national security? Read the related documents and the Ombudsman's decision and judge yourself.

2000 News

1999 News

1998 News

1997 News

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