In 1998, the Government set up a review group to examine issues arising from the illegal and harmful use of the Internet, with particular emphasis on the protection of children. The group in its report recommended the establishment of a system of self regulation by the Internet service provider industry as the most flexible, efficient, least bureaucratic and cost effective means of combating these illegal and harmful uses. The components of such a system were to include the following: an Internet Advisory Board, IAB — established February 2000 — which promotes awareness of Internet downside issues, co-ordinates efforts to combat child pornography on the Internet and monitors the system of self regulation by the Internet service provider industry; a public hotline for reporting child pornography, established 1999 and funded by the industry; an industry code of practice setting out the duties and responsibilities of each Internet service provider, agreed February 2002.
The code of practice and ethics, which was agreed between the Internet Advisory Board and the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland, ISPAI, sets down the conditions around such issues as acceptable use policies, complaints procedures, obligations in respect to "take down" notices and so forth. The ISPAI has a key role in monitoring compliance with the code and enforcing disciplinary actions in the event of non-compliance.
In 2003, the Internet Advisory Board carried out a review of the implementation and effectiveness of the code of practice and ethics after a year in operation. As part of its review, the board commissioned an independent examination by the IAPCODE project based at Oxford University, which receives funding from the EU's safer Internet action plan. Its report endorsed the code as a model of its type; however, it recommended a number of adjustments to take account of the recent legal developments in the area of data protection, e-commerce and mechanisms for dealing with content originating abroad.
The Internet Advisory Board's review, which was presented to me in July 2004, found that the technical and legal requirements of the code of practice and ethics remains valid and appropriate and also found a positive level of compliance among those service providers who have subscribed to it. However, while at present 15 of the largest of the Internet service providers, representing 95% of Internet traffic in the State, are members of the ISPAI, ongoing effort is needed to ensure that the totality of the industry is represented and signed up to the code of practice and ethics and formally supports the industry hotline.
As part of the ongoing process of evaluation of the effectiveness of the self regulatory regime for the industry, I invited senior executives of all the Internet service providers to meet with me on the 12 October last. I emphasised that, for self regulation to work, it must be supported by all of the industry. I propose to keep this issue of industry self regulation under active review in conjunction with the Internet Advisory Board.
