From: um@c2.org (Ulf Moeller)
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 13:32:51 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Report from Germany on "backdoor" net-censorship
Message-ID: <m0uSrkU-0000AdC@ulf.mali.sub.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


[German institutions' cancelling pornography, violence and Nazi
propaganda on Usenet will certainly have large international impact.
Thus I strongly suggest that you ask <summa@eco.de> for an official
translation.  I cannot guarantee for this rough translation to be
correct.  -- Ulf]

From:         summa@eco.de ("Harald A. Summa")

Press Release, June 5, 1996

Internet Media Counsil presents fist measurements for Voluntary
Self-Control

  [Voluntary Self-Control is the doublespeak term for censorship on
  pornography, violence, etc. It is, of course, not voluntary. um]

The leading Internet Serive Providers, on whose initiave the Internet
Medienrat, have deciced to found the Internet Content Task Force (ICTF)
for the purposes of Voluntary Self-Control. The ICTF will introduce
technical and organizational measurements to put up effective control
against contents harmful to minors and national-socialist propaganda
material. As a first step, the ICTF occupy itself with the News service,
and later with other forms of content transport in the Internet as
well.

The Internet Content Task Force will supply a news server specificially
configured for purposes of self-control at DE-CIX, the national data
exchange point of the Internet Service Providers. Proof of origin of
critical articles will be processed by the server, archived in a data
base observing privacy laws, and stored at a central facility.
Furthermore, sample news articles will be suject to detailed legal
evaluation. Should this result in suspicion or proof of transportation
of illegal contents, the ICTF can launch various steps to work against
propagation of these contents. For example, it can arrange for
blocking of complete newsgroups or retrospect "Cancel" of articles
already transmitted. ICTF can direct possible criminal investigation
with help of its data base.

Criteria for the ICTF's proceed will be developed, evaluated and
continuously updated by the Internet Medienrat. As an independant
gremium, the Internet Medienrat tries to achieve a social consensus
in the use of online media without government [sic! um] censorship.
The formation of the Internet Medienrat, which is currently preparing
its working basis, is being pushed ahead by Prof. Goetze, COE of
Springer Verlag Heidelberg, and eco Electronic Commerce Forum e.V.
It will present its members and organization to the public on
September 19, 1996.

>From govenment side, the Internet Medienrat is supported by the
Federal Ministry of Economy. Min. of Economy Rexroth: "I appreciate
the German online industry's initiative to found an Internet Media
Counsil as a gremium of Voluntary Self-Control."


Background Information on the Internet Content Task Force (ICTF)

The problem of protection of minors and of spreading
national-socialist ideas in the new media - especially on the Internet
- is currently being discussed intensively and controversially.
Meanwhile, politics and investigation authorities have begun to
proceed against the distribution of illegal contents the the Internet.
In the past weeks, the press has been reporting intensively about
investigations against large service providers.

However, the current legal situation gives few starting points for
coordinated proceeding. Lawyers cannot even agree on who can and
should be punished for distributing contents relevant to criminal
law on the Internet. Depending on standpoint and interests, even
noted criminal lawyers hold different views. Some do not consider
distribution of pornography and national-socialist writings in
electronic form punishable at all, others even want to hold service
providers responsible for mere transportation of data. Mediating
opionions imply that only the author of the message be punishable.
The only strong fact in the complete discussion is that the matter
-- as always in difficult dogmatic questions in penal law -- will
finally be decided by courts. It is also a fact that the true
authors of illegal messages -- especially those with an especially
high criminal energy -- can be determined only with great difficulty,
so that the threat of punishment insofar is void.

The solution to this problem is being complicated by the continuing
political discussion and superposed by other question complexes.
For example, the states regard new media as an extension of their
traditional radio regulation competence. They are trying to ensure
future influence by an extensive interpretation of the constitutional
regulation of competences and the laws and state treaties based on it.
The draft State Treaty on Media Services that applies to the whole
field of Internet and online services is one result of these
reasonings. To create facts in this field, the state treaty shall
be passed soon.

Lead by the "Future" Ministry, the federation is also working on
legal framework for new information and communication services to
comprehensively cover the subject. The Ministry of Interior on its
side is concerned with restricting Freedom of Communication with
priority. This activity has already resulted in the novel Wiretap
Law and the Telecommunication Surveillance Decree. Further laws,
especially a ban on crytography, are planned. On the European level,
a working group initiated on the last G7 conference, is trying to
achive international consesus.

Legal clarification, which is strictly needed but with still open
result, is faced by fear of censorship and too wide-reaching
government interference.

Since a long time, the leading German Internet Service Providers have
been trying to solve the now openly visible conflict betreen the
"Information Police State" and the "Anarchy in the Net" as feared by
politics. Thus they have propagated founding a Voluntary Self-Control
and initiated the formation of an Internet Medienrat. As a further
buiding stone, the Internet Content Task Force (ICTF) is now being
put to existence.

This shall also work against the impression that the main purpose of
the Internet were distributiong extremist and pornographic contents.
At least this was the result of numerous -- often badly researched --
reports in the recent weeks. They did neither differenciate between
the Internet services (Mail, News, WWW, Chat and others), nor present
the relation of doubtlessly useful and the less desired contents.
ICTF now turns towards the problem in a much more refined way. There,
it first will occupy itself with the currently probably most critcal
part of the Internet, the so-called News service.

The special problem of the News service is that information can be
distributed world-wide, yet anonymously. This is different of at least
fundamentally more difficult in other parts of the Internet, so that
the volume of critical content in the News is comparably high. The
ICTF will register the information availible on the origin of news
and store them in a data base as to make it possible to determine
who has sent an article or disguised the real author's identity, in
retrospect. The data base will be kept observing privavy laws and
third parties' protection-deserving interests [the Privacy Law puts
limits on databases with "protection-deserving" personal
information, um]. To avoid abuse, the data will regularly be exported
to hard storage and deposited with an attorney.

Furthermore, the existing or newly created newsgroups will be
classified, so that groups serving to distribute exclusively or
predominantly illegal contents can be excluded from further
distribution. Sample investigation of articles and analysis of
articles as necessary will also make it possible to limit the
transportation of individual articles.

Founding the ICTF, the Internet Service Providers accept part of the
responsibility in forming a modern information society. It is clear
that preventive action on a national level cannot stop illegal action
on a global level. Thus, the ICTF is a model for similar initiatives
in other countries, and is to be seen as an appeal to politics to
make their contribution to solving the problem. Currently, the ICTF
is the only perceptible approach to respect the need for "Law and
Order" and yet leaves the new medium Internet with the freedom needed
for futher prosperation.

On the other hand, national legislator's attempts to solve the problem
on its own will hardly solve the problem, but put severe damage to
the economic site Germany. For one thing is clear in the virtual
worlds of communication networks: Borders lose their importance, and
location is no longer an issue. There is nothing to prevent an
enterprise from moving its online activities to a country with less
bureaucrary and legal restrictions. First tendencies for migration
are already percepted.

The Internet Content Task Force is supported be the following Internet
Service Providers:

CERFnet GmbH, Heidenrod
ECRC GmbH, Muenchen,
EUnet Deutschland GmbH, 
GTN GmbH, Krefeld,
ipf.net GmbH, Frankfurt,
IS/Thyssen  Internet Service GmbH,  Hamburg,
Point of Presence, Hamburg, 
nacamar GmbH, Dreieich,
NTG-X/link GmbH, Karlsruhe,
roka GmbH, Duisburg,
seicom GmbH, Pfullingen,
spacenet GmbH, Muenchen.

Further information can be obtained from:

eco Electronic Commerce Forum e. V.
c/o Harald A. Summa
Schaeferkampstr. 19

44287 Dortmund
Tel:	+49 (0) 231 44 79 49
Fax:	+49 (0) 231 44 81 35
E-Mail: summa@eco.de
http://www.eco.de/

or

attorney at law
RA Michael Schneider
Dickstr. 35
53773 Hennef / Sieg, 
Tel:	+49 (0) 2242 9270-0 
Fax: 	+49 (0) 2242 9270-99                     
E-Mail: Michael.Schneider@Anwalt.DE
http://www.anwalt.de/


+++
eco - Electronic Commerce Forum e. V.

c/o Harald A. Summa
Schäferkampstr. 19
44287 Dortmund

Tel 0231 / 44 79 49
Fax 0231 / 44 81 35
Email info@eco.de
+++