The regulation of onlineadults’ content

1. Kiwanis of Liège 19th of September 2006 The regulation of onlineadults’ content Etienne Wéry, etienne.wery@ulys.net Partner, ULYS – www.ulys.net Attorney-at-law (Brussels’ and Paris’ Bars) Senior lecturer at University Paris I (Sorbonne)

2. Part I : What is regulation ?

3. What is « regulation » ? • Bring order in the chaos • A great number of means

4. State of the art • Netiquette • Good usage • Legislation • State • Other public bodies • Self-legislation • Self-regulation • Unilateral • Multilateral Regulation ? Labels • Technical mesures • Access restriction • Watermarking • ERMS • Contracts • Model-law CNUDCI • CCI Alternative dispute resolution

5. Regulation is not legislation • Legislation is « a » form if regulation : • State legislation ; Other public/non-public bodies legislation • No exclusion between the two • Boundaries of State legislation as far as the Internet is concerned : • International ; Immediate ; Worldwide ; Everchanging ; Multiplicity of content’s nature ; Multiplicity of the scales ; Topology principle ; • Legislation is nevertheless necessary : • Draw a framework and leave it to other regulation means ; • Make it technologically neutral ; • Respect the subsidiarity principle ; • Coregulation

6. Part II : Content regulation : what for ?

7. Illegal content for both adults and minors (offensive to human dignity) • Illegal if online • Harmful content : legal but liable to harm (mainly the minors) by impairing their physical and/or mental development

8. Part III : Illegal content : The example of child pornography

9. The recent EU framework decision • Recital nr 5: “ child pornography, a particularly serious form ofsexual exploitation of children, is increasing and spreading through the use of new technologies and the Internet ”.

10. Objective of the decision • To harmonize the legislative and regulatory provisions of the Member States concerning police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. • To introduce at European level joint framework provisions to address certain issues such as the creation of offences, penalties, aggravating circumstances, jurisdiction and extradition.

11. Country Sexual Majority Australia 16-17 16 For the purpose of paedo. porno Austria 14 14 Belgium 16 18 Denmark 15 17 Finland 16 18 France 15 18 Germany 14 14(sauf exceptions) Greece 15 18 Iceland 14 - 16 18 Ireland 17 17 Italy 13/14/16 18 Luxembourg 16 18 The Netherlands 16 18 Portugal --- 18 Spain 13 18 Sweden 15 18 United Kingdom 16 16 Actual definition of a “minor”

12. Towards an harmonization of the minor • In the framework decision, a “child shall mean any person below the age of 18 years”.

13. Incriminated acts • production of child pornography • distribution, dissemination or transmission of child pornography • supplying or making available child pornography • acquisition or possession of child pornography

14. Part IV : Illegal content if online : The example of casinos

15. Casinos in various countries (Belgium, France, UK, etc.) : licence limited to « bricks and mortar » • Legal issues : • The no-prior authorisation principle for information society services • The non-discrimination principle • The Gambelli case

16. Part V : Harmful content : The example of freedom of speech

17. The principle : freedom of speech The fundamental democratic principles of freedom of expression and respect for privacy, enshrined in Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, must be observed, and any measure restricting these freedoms must be legitimate, necessary for the aim pursued, and strictly proportionate in the limitations it imposes.

18. The exception : harmful content • "Harmful content" is : • a material which is authorised but subject to distribution restrictions (adults only, for example); • or material which some users might find offensive even if, on the grounds of freedom of speech, there are no restrictions on publication. • Examples : pornography ; tobacco ; alcool ; medicines and drugs ; racist messages ; some films and books (violent content); etc.

19. The difficult balance : the french example Criminal code , art. 227-24 : « Le fait soit de fabriquer, de transporter, de diffuser par quelque moyen que ce soit et quel qu'en soit le support un message à caractère violent ou pornographique ou de nature à porter gravement atteinte à la dignité humaine, soit de faire commerce d'un tel message, est puni de trois ans d'emprisonnement et de 75000 euros d'amende, lorsque ce message est susceptible d'être vu ou perçu par un mineur ».

20. A partial answer : the internal market principle • “Each Member State shall ensure that the information society services provided by a service provider established on its territory comply with the national provisions applicable in the Member State in question which fall within the coordinated field”. • “Member States may not, for reasons falling within the coordinated field, restrict the freedom to provide information society services from another Member State”.

21. January - June 2003 : 1276 reports received The risicos : virtual paradises

22. Part VI : A few examples of regulation online

23. Self-regulation initiated by the sex industry • The legal means : sectorial codification • Why ? : eradicate child pornography • Examples : ASACP – Home ; http://www.pedowatch.org/ ; ABAIXO ASSINADO

24. Self-regulation initiated by the internet industry • France : AFA (Association des fournisseurs d’Internet) www.pointdecontact.net • UK : ISPA Code of Practice • Italy : Codice di Autoregolamentazione per i servizi Internet www.aiip.it

25. Technical measures • Content verification systems • Age verification systems • Labels • Examples : The Internet Content Rating Association http://www.icra.org/ ; Safesurf Internet Rating Standard http://www.safesurf.com/ ; Access-Control www.access-control-software.com

26. QUESTIONS & cOMMENTS Etienne Wéry, etienne.wery@ulys.net Partner, ULYS – www.ulys.net Attorney-at-law (Brussels’ and Paris’ Bars) Senior lecturer at University Paris I (Sorbonne)