Teen Checkup | Internet Safety

Australia’s Move Toward Censorship

Wait until you read this.

According to the New York Times, the Australian government plans to test a nationwide web filtering system that would force Internet service providers to block access to thousands of sites containing illegal content.

The proposed filter is part of a $82 million “cyber safety plan” with the goal of protecting children online and stopping adults from downloading questionable content, like child pornography or materials related to terrorism (all of which are illegal in Australia).

The system would have two tiers.

First, all Australian service providers would block access to around 10,000 websites on a list maintained by the Australian government.

Second, the service providers would be required to provide an optional filter that people could use to block material deemed unsuitable for children.

The proposal has set off a flurry of anxious chatter on social networking sites like Facebook, where thousands of users have announced plans to attend mass protests. More than 85,000 users have also signed an online petition created by the left-wing advocacy group GetUp, which calls the mandatory filter “a serious threat to our democratic values.”

This wreaks of censorship to me too. While Australia may be operating with the best of intentions, I’m not so sure that it should be mandating which websites people can and can not look at. The Internet is still considered the “wild, wild west” - why start governing it now?

Seriously, I’m all for Internet blocks and controls - but on a personal level. All of us - as human beings - should have the right to pick and choose what we (and our kids) can look at. Sounds like Australians feel the same way.

More from around the sphere:

This post was written by: Erin

Tech Post a Key Move for Obama

The election is over. All eyes are now on our new President-elect as he begins to select his cabinet. Barack Obama has some pretty significant decisions ahead of him, one of them being his choice for Chief Technology Officer. Tech experts are buzzing about this new position. This, according to the National Post, will define Obama’s presidency and officially move the government into a 2.0 world.

So many of you are probably wondering what the heck a CTO will really do. The answer is A LOT! Not only is this person going to protect our government from cyber terrorists, hackers and criminals, they will also protect and improve how we conduct business online - including education.

Here are the main goals of the new CTO:

1. The CTO will be responsible for enhancing and financially supporting technology of all kinds: environmental, scientific, engineering, medical. This will include massive funding for green (US$150-billion in 10 years), biotech, computer tech and pure scientific research but will also involve incentives to universities to step up engineering graduates annually from 60,000 a year to double that number within half a generation.

2. America’s CTO will be responsible for making the government more transparent, accessible, responsive. Like the Internet-savvy Obama election machine, this President-elect wants to stream meetings live, which are held between cabinet ministers and business CEOs or their organizations; he wants to post on government Web sites legislation for five days to solicit public comments; he wants to provide other interactive policy sites, chat rooms and forums so citizens can participate in governance, and he wants to streamline or convert government departments and their Web sites into efficient service providers.

3. Extend broadband access to all Americans, up from the 23% who now can tap into the Internet and its vast store of information or services. The U. S. ranks 15th in the world in this regard, according to the OECD.

4. The CTO will lobby for more open immigration policies to attract more of the world’s brainpower to its government-funded research projects.

5. Obama’s America will earmark money to upgrade and computerize the country’s education system.

6. His plans include cleaning up the patent-protection and copyright processes to end frivolous and vexatious litigation as well as “trolling” or tweaking existing protections to create new, invasive ones.

Barack Obama. He’s our new president. Let’s all rally behind his effort to foster innovation and invention. His choice for CTO will no doubt improve our hi-tech nation and, perhaps, make history. Again.

More from around the sphere:

This post was written by: Erin

Election Day: One Last Look at the Tech Issues

It’s election day.

The campaigning is over. No more mudslinging. No more bickering. No more confusion about whether Barack Obama is Muslim or Christian.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief, right?

Well, I have to admit that I’m still on the fence. I’m supposed to vote in about 3 hours and, seriously, I haven’t decided which candidate is fit to run this country. I woke up this morning in a cold sweat thinking about it. This is a big decision, historic even!

What it may come down to, ironically enough, is technology. Where do John McCain and Barack Obama really stand on tech issues? We all know about their foreign policies, their plans to stimulate the economy, and their plans to boost healthcare. But what about the issue that effects all of us every single day?

Considering all of the technology concerns on the table in Washington, this was a very hot topic among tech bloggers this morning, especially Jason Hiner. He has poignantly laid out the five most important technology policy issues and the candidate’s stance on each of them. This information is so valuable, so influential - I just had to make it a topic of discussion here on Teen Checkup.

Here, according to Jason Hiner, are the top 5 tech issues at stake in Washington.

1. Net Neutrality - This proposed legislation would guarantee that telecommunications providers cannot control, prioritize, or filter the types of applications and content that Internet customers use. It demands that Internet Service Providers act as good stewards of the Internet, rather than monopolists.

2. Broadband development - The U.S. is increasingly lagging behind other developed nations in the penetration and affordability of high-speed broadband. There are some complicated reasons for this (included the widespread geography of the U.S.), but a lot of it is due to lack of competition and over-consolidation due to current U.S. policies and regulations. Broadband Internet is a major economic enabler and it demands much more serious and proactive policies from Washington.

3. R&D tax credits- The U.S. research and development tax credit expired in December 2007 for the 13th time since 1981. In October, Congress finally extended the basic R&D tax credit through 2009, but lawmakers continue to resist making it permanent. The country that is home to Apple, Microsoft, Google and a host of other tech innovators that export American technologies throughout the world needs to incent these tech companies to keep their primary innovation work on these shores.

4. H1B Visas - While the K-12 education system in the U.S. continues to struggle to keep up with the rest of the world, the U.S. higher education systems remains a bright spot that attracts many of the world’s most talented students. The H1B Visa program helps keep many of those students in the U.S. after they graduate by providing them with Visas if they land jobs here. While the execution of this program has led to employers abusing it in some cases, it remains a necessary program for high tech companies to hire the engineers and computer scientists they need.

5. Green tech - If the U.S. were a business run by a CEO and a board of directors, it is very likely that they would look at the current market opportunities and determine that the best places for the U.S. to innovate and invest for the future would be in energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources to oil. This field is often referred to as “green tech” and it requires a huge investment of capital. Unfortunately, the current economic downturn will likely limit private donors and venture capitalists from investing as much money here, so tax breaks and federal government funds will be needed to stimulate growth and push the U.S. toward a global leadership position.

So where do our presidential candidates stand on these policies?

Follow the link and read for yourself.

John McCain and Barack Obama on tech issues

This post was written by: Erin

Information Security: The Forgotten Battle?

How many times have you heard John McCain or Barack Obama bring up the terms, “information security,” “cyber legislation,” or “cyber security?” Probably never, right? Among the hours of debates and campaign stops I also haven’t heard the candidates bring up the issue of child safety on the Internet. I mean come one, these are real issues and I’d love to know where these men stand.

Coincidentally, as I was thinking of this, CNET published a thought-provoking article on the same topic. Jon Oltsik is almost poetic as he lays out his thoughts on taking care of unfinished business in Washington, DC.

Here’s excerpt.

Each candidate has been scrambling to explain how he plans to right the financial ship, reign in growing health-care costs, improve education, and balance the budget. Yikes!

As if this wasn’t enough, the new president and Congress also have an obligation to figure out how to proceed with a strategic plan for IT and information security.

Now I understand that economic, social, and national security issues should have precedence, but the fact is that the federal government is sort of treading water on a number of highly visible strategic initiatives regarding information security. The issue here isn’t new legislation or initiatives, however. It is finishing work that has already been started.

Here are a few examples:

1. The Comprehensive National Cyber Security Initiative (CNCI). This effort grew out of presidential and Department of Homeland Security directives with the goal of standardizing security practices and appointing DHS as the overseer of critical information security infrastructure across all federal agencies. It is estimated that CNCI will ultimately cost around $18 billion to $30 billion. But for now, DHS is asking for $200 million in 2009. As of this writing, these funds have not been allocated to the project.

2. The next revision of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002. Back in 2002, FISMA was passed in order to provide a set of guidelines and requirements for federal agencies. Each agency was then graded on a FISMA report card with the results presented to Congress and the public. Several agencies (alarmingly, including DHS) received an “F”, while others saw FISMA as nothing more than a series of check boxes with no teeth. To improve the efficacy and benefits of FISMA, the Senate is currently working on the FISMA Act of 2008 (S.3474). As of now, this bill remains in committee.

3. A national information privacy act. The Personal Data and Privacy Act (S.495) has been languishing in the Senate for years. In lieu of national personal-privacy legislation, 42 states have enacted their own laws leading to a messy situation for any organization doing business across the country. Some states like Nevada and Massachusetts now mandate data encryption to protect data confidentiality, but individual laws remains vague and unique.

These examples pale in comparison to the federal train wreck around Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), a well-intended but unfunded effort to standardize identity technologies for federal workers and contractors. In my opinion, the lack of federal funding has rendered HSPD-12 a bad joke inside the Beltway.

As a private citizen, I can’t help but lament the tremendous amount of wasted effort here, especially in the face of increasingly dangerous information security threats. Bills are discussed but not passed. Some legislation gets passed and is either ignored or treated as a mere check-box item. Other bills are passed and never funded.

I’d love to hear you thoughts on this issue. Better yet, who are you going to vote for?

This post was written by: Erin

New Bill Requires Web Safety Curriculum

I’m elated.

The U.S. Senate and the House have passed federal legislation that will require some schools to educate their students about online safety, sexual predators, and cyber bullying.

The Broadband Data Improvement Act  would apply to schools that receive e-Rate discounts on their telecommunications services and Internet access. Which, by the way, is just about every school on the planet.

The bill will also require the Federal Trade Commission to launch a national public awareness program focused on educating kids on how to use the Internet responsibly. It also establishes an “Online Safety and Technology Working Group” which will evaluate online safety education, parental control technology, filtering and blocking software.

I applaud the government for taking these crucial steps towards protecting our children. Yet, why wasn’t this done sooner? The 2006 Deleting Online Predators Act, which would have required schools to block access to social networking sites and chat rooms, was shot down in the House and Senate. K-12 groups opposed the bill, citing federal intrusion on school districts’ rights to control content.

The 2006 bill should have passed with flying colors. This just goes to show how far behind our country is when it comes to protecting children on the Internet. At least this new bill has the potential to set the stage for some power new legislation down the road. Perhaps there will be an amendment, requiring ALL schools - not just the e-Rate recipients - to teach Internet safety.

President Bush is expected to sign the Broadband Data Improvement Act soon. Perhaps this will be the last bit of important work he gets done before leaving office.

Parents, there is hope yet.

This post was written by: Erin

Anti-Bullying Law in Jeopardy

This is not what I want to hear.

Michigan is on the verge of doing something extremely stupid.

Matt’s Law - a bill drafted in light of the death of 14-year-old Matt Epling, who killed himself after being bullied- is stalled in Michigan’s Senate. The law would require every school in that state to have an anti-bullying policy.

34 states already have similar laws, however Matt’s Law is finding difficult passage. In fact, Michigan’s Senate will give it one more consideration this fall. If it fails, Matt’s Law will die.

Opponents say the state shouldn’t get involved in such matters and that schools can pass anti-bullying policies WITHOUT a state mandate.

But those who favor the bill say too many schools don’t have a defined plan of action for bullying, leaving victims without crucial support.

I researched this topic on the Detroit Free Press website and, boy, it sure did generate some heated comments. This is a hot topic, with both sides passionately divided.

So where do I stand?

I must say I’m quite disgusted by the move of some of these Michigan lawmakers. Why would they want to toss out a law that clearly protects children? Bullying - whether in-person or on the Internet - should not be taken lightly. Obviously the death of Matt Epling has not resonated with Michigan’s state senators. Shame on them.

In the meantime, I will sit here, on my little laptop, and hope that eventually Michigan will follow the lead of the 34 other states that have taken on bullies.

This post was written by: Erin

New Law: Computer Techs Required to Report Porn

Boy, Illinois is really on top of things.

A new state law now requires computer technicians to file a police report if any of their customer’s computers contain child pornography. The new law applies to those who work at big or small stores as well as repairmen who work on computers in people’s homes. Illinois law also requires photo processors to do the same.

Illinois governor, whose signature put the law on the books immediately, approved it as part of a package of legislation aimed at preventing the exploitation of children. Another provision in the law targets adults who contact children on the Internet with the intent of luring them into a meeting.

I commend this state for going to such lengths to protect children. You may recall that Illinois also implemented an Internet safety curriculum in all of its public K-12 schools. That curriculum begins next school year.

It’s funny, though, to listen to opponents sound off on this issue. In response to the new state, some say innocent people will ultimately end up under investigation. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is also questioning the law, saying it would require untrained computer technicians to make judgments on what constitutes child pornography.

Duh? Isn’t it obvious?

And shouldn’t anyone in possession of, what appears to be, even the slightest hint of child porn be investigated?

Chalk another one up for Illinois. They’re doing good things in that part of the country.

This post was written by: Erin

The Byron Review: Could the U.S. Follow in Britain’s Footsteps?

A year ago the British government decided it was time to get serious about online safety for kids. The first step was to commission a review - headed by Dr. Tanya Byron - to determine the risks kids faced when they were exposed to inappropriate material via the Internet or violent video games.

The conclusions of this study are very murky, and seem contradictory as well as full of platitudes. For instance, the idea that the whole of society should look out for the safety of children online is more of a political stance than a scientific conclusion, no? In fact, Byron admits that the evidence that any harm is done to children when they see “inappropriate” images is inconclusive. However - she scrambles - this does not mean there isn’t damage done, and therefore she has a long list of “recommendations” that include new legislation, and the creation of more bureaucracy.

Now I realize that many online teen safety blogs might applaud this idea and suggest that America should do the same. However, those of you who have been following these illuminated ramblings know, I totally disagree.

I feel that it is the parent’s place to keep their kids safe online and off.

• It is for parents alone to decide what is inappropriate for their child in the first place
• Who knows a particular child better than that child’s parents? I’m not willing to risk even one child being blocked from useful information because another parent - or a government agency - has decided there is something inappropriate about it.
• The entire world is full of risks and it is the exclusive and sovereign right of a child’s parents to educate their children - in the way they decide - in how to deal with them.

Do parents need help and eduaction of their own? Of course. That is what sites like this and countless others are for. Can the government play a role? Perhaps. But a bloated bureaucracy always makes a poor substitute for a mom and dad.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Big Brother, or Boon for British Parents?

A new Internet watchdog agency has been launched in the UK. The purpose of the group is to protect children from “harmful” web content, including cyber-bullying and violent video games.

The new group known as UKCCIS: United Kingdom Council for Child Internet Safety intends to gather together social networking sites as well as technology firms, under the mandate of protecting kids.

Currently Internet companies and the like are expected to police themselves, much the same as in the United States. The idea is similar to the handling of the movie industry: let them regulate themselves under the fear that if things get out of hand, they will be regulated externally.

This has been British policy for a long time, and there doesn’t seem to be any explanation of why an agency of the government was suddenly a necessity. Although prime minister Gordon Brown claims that there will be “minimal restrictions” applied to the Internet, one has to wonder what the point of a “Council” will be if it doesn’t ultimately push legislation? The immediate strategy of the UKCCIS includes working with more than 100 companies to create an Internet children’s safety strategy that will include:

• Establishing a public awareness safety campaign
• Establishing measures to protect children, including taking down illegal internet sites
• Promoting responsible advertising to children online
• Establishing voluntary codes of practice

Some of these measures - especially those involving advertising to kids - sound great. Others set my Spidey-senses tingling, ringing a bit too much of exploiting parent’s fears in order to justify censorship and control.

Brown is already talking to other countries about his new program, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar plan here in America.

The true agenda of the UKCCIS remains to be seen, but you can bet I’ll be keeping my eye on it.

Read this BBC report and get educated on these new developments.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

U.S. Gets Tough on Cyber Crime

Cyber surfers can take comfort in knowing the U.S. government has got your back. A new Federal law is about to introduce tougher penalties for identity theft as well as the right to sue for losses.

The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act, originally introduced in 2007, was finally accepted this weekend after - get this - its inclusion in another bill to protect former U.S. Vice Presidents. Now the Act is expected to meet no resistance from the U.S. President when it arrives on his desk.

Here is a breakdown of what the law entails:

• Any criminal proven to have installed malware or spyware on more than ten computers, even in a single state, can be pursued under this new federal law.
• It does away with the minimum previous $5,000 limit to damages incurred due to unauthorized access to computer systems before charges can be filed.
• Victims will be allowed to sue criminals convicted under the Act for damages as result of any ID theft.

Kudos to the government for finally stepping up its effort to protect us, including our vulnerable children, online. I’m happy to see something happening on the Hill. I just hope this law sticks. It’s one thing to create legislation, it’s another to see it through. My hope is that one day this law, and maybe a few new ones, will have big enough teeth to really generate attention.

The rest of the world loves to examine our successes and failures, so let’s hope the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act sets a standard that other countries will be clamoring to beat.

This post was written by: Erin