Vice police rely on netiquette, not legislation

Censorship of the Internet is impossible and decisions made about the computer network must reflect this reality, according to a University of Kent academic.

Duncan Langford, a computing fellow, said Internet news groups, which do not exist in any one place, cannot be censored without disabling the entire net. World Wide Web sites cannot be controlled either, despite their fixed addresses, because a site can simply be moved to a new location.

In a paper to be given at the University of Teesside's "Cyberspace Divide" conference next week, Dr Langford will tell delegates that although many, particularly politicians, find it difficult to accept, using legislation to control the Internet will not work.

Nevertheless, the clubs and vice unit of Scotland Yard has written to all United Kingdom service providers asking them to restrict access to 133 news groups they say contain pornographic and obscene content. A spokesperson said most companies have complied, including Demon, the largest.

Although accepting that the problem could never be totally eradicated, the spokesperson said police did not believe it was an acceptable reason for doing nothing.

Dr Langford said the police move reflected the Government's belief that it needed to be seen to be taking action, but he added that "the reality is that whatever they do, it isn't going to be effective".

As long as the belief that net censorship is achievable persisted, the hope of educating new users about appropriate use of the network decreased, he said. The need for education was urgent, because the vast numbers of new users are not familiar with protocols that have traditionally governed the Internet. Dr Langford would like the Government to work with service providers to ensure new users are aware of appropriate net etiquette.

"People should be able to see the need for it - the reason the Internet has worked in the past is because users have seen the need and understand why it's not a good idea to send 10,000 identical messages all over the place," he said.

Resolving issues such as what constitutes "appropriate" personal postings to the net, and its use to conduct commercial activities, will also be problematic, Dr Langford said.