Internet Society of Australia
A Chapter of the Internet Society

THE INTERNET SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA RESPONSE TO

INTERNET INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION INDUSTRY CODE OF PRACTICE
THIRD DRAFT - 10 February 1998

In its recent media release (Regulation of Internet Content, 19 January 1998), the Federal Government has clearly recognised the undesirability of over-regulation of the Internet, and the need to establish industry administered codes of practice. The Government has stated that it "recognises that an overly restrictive Internet regulatory regime would only inhibit further expansion of this important new industry, which will be a key driver of job creation in coming years."

The Internet Society of Australia broadly agrees that some form of content regulation is inevitable and the use of codes of practice preferable to direct legislative mechanisms. The Society sees that there is also benefit in providing protection for the consumer from factors other than just content, and for setting uniform service standards across the industry. It should be noted however, that some sections of the user community are still undecided that an Industry Code of Practice is the best way to achieve the objectives being sought, and that if care is not taken, the potential for undesirable or inconsistent behaviour is high.

The Industry Code of Practice (third draft), developed by the IIA in conjunction with the Government and other interest groups, appears to go a considerable way towards defining uniform standards for the Internet Industry. However, the Society believes that there are still a number of shortcomings in the current draft that need be addressed, and details of the suggested changes are provided below. The Society intends that these changes will ensure a) that code subscribers take an active role in preventing misuse of their systems; and b) the security and privacy of user information is preserved to the utmost degree.

The Internet Society of Australia's response to the draft is as follows:

1) The Internet Society of Australia fully supports the Objectives and Principles outlined in the Code of Practice. 

      > 7. GENERAL CONDUCT OF ALL CODE SUBSCRIBERS
      >
      > 7.4 Code Subscribers will not:
      >	(e) engage in or encourage the practice of spamming.

2) The Society believes that spamming is a major threat to the development and adoption of Internet services. It would like to see the code ensure that (a) action is taken against users involved in deliberate spamming; and (b) active measures are taken by Code Subscribers to ensure that their services are not inadvertently used by spammers, through mail relays, misconfigured software, etc. 

      > 8. SECRECY AND PRIVACY OBLIGATIONS
      >
      > 8.1 Code Subscribers will:
      > (d) refrain from intentionally examining or tampering with a user's
      > private content without the express prior consent of the user.

3) The Society believes that the privacy of users' content is of paramount importance, and that a Code Subscriber should examine content only in the most extreme situations. Further, Code Subscribers should be prevented from divulging the private content to any third party, except where the content is the subject of a legal warrant. This should be explicitly stated in the Code. 

      > 9. COLLECTION AND USE OF USER DETAILS
      >
      > 9.3 Code Subscribers will take reasonable steps, having regard to the
      > nature of the information, to ensure that information collected in
      > relation to a user:
      >  (c) if inaccurate, is erased or rectified.

4) The Society would also like to see provision for all copies of the user details to be (a) removed when no longer required by the Code Subscriber; and (b) removed at the request of the user (probably necessitating a change in user status).

Finally, with regard to the Administrative Council: 

      > 15. ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL
      >
      > 5.1 The Administrative Council shall be made up of 5 members as
      > follows:
      >   (c) a user representative nominated by a user representative
      >   organisation [to be determined].

The Society agrees that at least one representative from a user representative organisation should be part of the Administrative Council, but that this should be a national organisation. The Society would be happy to call for nominations from within its own organisation to fulfill this role.

The Internet Society of Australia looks forward to seeing the outcome of the consultative process, and the adoption of the code by the Internet Service Provider Industry.

Greg Watson
Director
Internet Society of Australia