Is Internet Regulation Around the Corner?

In mid-2008, Rasmussen conducted a poll to find out how Americans felt about Internet regulation.  49% said that they thought the government should regulate the Internet in much the same way that it regulates radio and television.

This trend toward government regulation of the Internet is due to fears about children being exposed to online violence or pornography and abuse by social networking predators. 

A Brief Review of Censorship.

China is not the only place that censors Internet content. The trend is on a rise worldwide.  In the United Kingdom, for example, a page within Wikipedia (and in some instances, the entire Wikipedia site) was blocked due to a complaint filed with the IWF, a quasi-governmental agency.  An album cover was viewed as offensive and inappropriate. Since it was a photo of a physical good, there was the possibility that Amazon's US shopping and auction content would be blocked from UK viewers.

Also in the censorship arena is the increasing volume of politicians who are complaining about blogs not correctly reporting the facts about their campaigns or other political events.  Add to this mix the journalists and mainstream media who are seeing online content take a bite out of their readership and sales.  While Internet news publishing is not currently regulated in the US, it would not be surprising if politicians begin to talk about journalism requirements or some form of authority rank for blog owners and other online reporters.

Filtering on a National Scale.

If it becomes law, Australia's 'great firewall' will be the most restrictive mandatory government control of the Internet in the world's democratic countries.  Ostensibly for filtering out child pornography, the firewall has sparked intense debate, including free speech arguments.  The government reportedly will ban at least 1300 websites, but it has not disclosed exactly what sites are on the banned list.  While the filter will not achieve 100% accuracy and its effectiveness is therefore questionable, it will nonetheless slow down Internet speeds by up to 86%. 

Internet Taxation.

For years, there have been rumors in the US about a federal internet tax, but nothing has come of it.  Many Americans, including Congressional representatives, are leery of an Internet sales tax.  Budget-challenged state governments, on the other hand, are eyeing the Internet as a source of revenue.  New York state, for instance, imposed various vendor and affiliate registration requirements that would make non-resident sellers responsible for reporting New York state sales taxes.  Amazon, which has a strong worldwide affiliate program, has sued and as of this writing, a decision has not been rendered.  Watch for Internet taxation to become an issue in upcoming years.

Licensing and Disclosure Requirements.

As odd as it sounds, there has been some talk by a handful of legislators that people should be licensed to surf the Internet.  Their reasoning is that is a person has to get a license to drive a car, then he or she needs to get a license to surf the Internet's information highway.  License requirements would include basic knowledge about anti-virus programs, email use and so forth.  While it is unlikely that this idea will gain traction, it is not unreasonable to speculate that content writers will need to follow licensing and disclosure requirements for their web publications.  Regulatory accountability is not a far-fetched idea, particularly if one views copyright suits, politicians complaining about the accuracy of news and blogs, and stringent regulation of medical claims with respect to health products.  Take, for instance, Canada's proposed Internet regulations (to be heard in February 2009) which would address Canadian copyright issues and might impose a rating system on websites that is similar to movie rating systems.  Given the opinion of many Americans that the Internet should be regulated in the same way that radio and television is regulated, the logical conclusion is that Internet publishers will need to register with whatever agency is created to administer online media.

Conclusion.

The above examples provide a glimpse into what the future may hold when it comes to Internet regulation.  Because so many people refuse to take responsibility for their children's Internet activities and for their own Internet use, it is likely that we as Internet publishers will see an increasing amount of regulatory proposals.

One thing that web publishers can do, right now, to start to protect themselves is to include a legally sound privacy policy statement on their websites.    You can find out how to write a privacy policy at the NotGuru blog.

Internet regulation and trends are periodically discussed here:  Internet Regulation articles at the NotGuru blog.