CHILD INTERNET SAFETY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2008

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero filed a Bill that seeks to protect children18 years old and below from the harmful stuff on the internet.

Senate Bill No. 2098:

SEC. 5.  Restriction of Access by Children to Harmful Materials in the Intemef.  – All commercial  establishments or  public  Internet  points  offering  Internet  services  shall  be required to offer filtered “clean feed Internet service using end-user or PC based filtering software to all Internet users below eighteen (18) years of  age. The State shall encourage and make widely accessible the use of  similar filtering products for households to enable parents or guardians  to block web pages that are considered unsuitable to children.

Ok.. there’s a WILL… but… lets talk about the WAY.. how will this be carried out?

I’m for making the internet a safer place for our kids. But its the way of doing this that’s making me think hard.

So a software will ask if a user is 18 years old and above. Who verifies that info? If a 14 year old clicks “I’m 18 years old and above”, is there a way to check that?

Lets take a look at some scenarios,

• In an internet cafe, a teen enters (lets use this name for those 18 years old and below), asks for a free unit to surf the net, will the internet cafe attendant ask for the teen’s ID? And if the attendant sees that the teen is below the legal age, the attendant will be the one to input in the terminal (computer to be used) the age of the teen, and all “illegal” contents will be filtered?
• Internet hot spot (wi-fi), before a user can have access to the wi-fi connection, he/she will be asked of his age? For secured Wi-Fi access, the wi-fi access owner can ask for the user’s ID to verify the age. If the user is a teen, then the WAN security access that should be given should connect to a different connection where the content is filtered?
• How about on non-restricted Wi-Fi hot spots where any user can just establish a connection without a WAN/network key?
• How about mobile internet? Where mobile users connect to the internet using WAP, 3G, Wi-Fi, and the incoming WiMax?

Privacy issue

(d)  Installing  or  maintaining  enclosed  or  private  cubicles,  cells,  private partitions  or  enclosures  for individual internet users.  The  presence  of  such  prohibited enclosures shall be prima  facie evidence of  unlawful services under this Act.

So, if a person wants some privacy, he goes to a cubicle where no one will be able to eavesdrop on his/her conversation of whatever the user is doing. And if this bill is passed, it becomes illegal for cubicles and to have priacy in a public place? (hmmm..privacy in a public place? )

Also, will there be information collected from the user about his/her internet surfing? The “software” that will be installed might be able to collect data of which user went to what sites and may also collect personal info like credit card details, usernames, etc.

In fairness, the bill also talks about the parents and their role in this filtering scheme. Parents should be at the forefront of all of this, right?

Most of the “adult” websites that I have seen has already an age verification page – even yahoo mail has this.  If we are to fight the unhealthy things in the internet, it should really start from the user.

DISCIPLINE.

Oh, if this bill is passed, I think we’ll not be seeing  its effects soon.. Like maybe it will go in effect in year 2010.

Facts about the Bill:

Long title

AN ACT PROVIDING INTERNET SAFETY AND PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

Scope

National

Legislative status

Pending in the Committee (3/3/2008)

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Subject(s)

Internet Protection
Children and Youth

Primary committee

Public Information and Mass Media

Secondary committee

Justice and Human Rights
Finance

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Legislative History

Entitled:
AN ACT PROVIDING INTERNET SAFETY AND PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN
[ FIRST REGULAR SESSION, 14TH CONGRESS ]
[ 2008 ]
2/27/2008	Introduced by Senator FRANCIS “CHIZ” G. ESCUDERO;
3/3/2008	Read on First Reading and Referred to the Committee(s) on PUBLIC INFORMATION AND MASS MEDIA; JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS; and FINANCE;

You can download a copy of the Bill here.