Australian Democrats calls for radical overhaul of Internet legislation

Stuart Corner
Saturday, 06 February 2010 18:15

Business IT - Networking

The Australian Democrats says the current legislative framework for the Internet and related industries is "ill-fitting and ill-serving making it difficult and prohibitive for the Australian Industry to operate with certainty." The party is proposing a radical overhaul.

The Democrats - which is attempting to rebuild itself after losing all Parliamentary representation in 2008 - plans to push for the introduction "a completely new legislative framework for the Internet and technology industries to provide a more secure operating environment for businesses and users of the Internet and related technology."

It describes the proposals as its "Internet and Technology" policy, which it has released in draft form. However the policy appears to be limited to the Internet and related but unspecified technologies. There is no suggestion that it would apply to technology in its widest sense.

The proposals include:
- Removing Schedule 5 [which deals with online services] from the Broadcast Services Act, and otherwise amending the Act to make it clear that it does not cover Internet and multimedia services
- Making it the responsibility of law enforcement, not Internet service providers, to police illegal activity online;
- Making the creator of web content, and not the Internet company that provides the carriage of it, legally responsible for that content;
- Legal protections for ISPs from prosecution for the acts of their customers online;
Legal protections for the providers of collaborative online service providers such as forums and social networking sites from prosecution for the acts of their users.

The Democrats suggests that specific details of the legislation should be worked out with representatives of the industry and users "to ensure an equitable and agreeable arrangement for all and to secure the future of our Internet and technology Industry."

It also proposes removing Schedule 7, which deals with content services, from the Broadcasting Services Act and replacing all classification legislation and codes with a simplified system of classification that applies to all media.

The Democrats claims that the proposed reforms will "create a better operating environment for Internet related industries,... will improve their capacity to make better business decisions, and to deliver better services to consumers, as well as have more certainty and confidence in their regulatory environment."