The regulation of online adults’ content

Etienne Wéry, etienne.wery@ulys.net

Partner, ULYS

Attorney-at-laaw (Brussels’ and Paris’ Bars)

Senior lecturer at University Paris I (Sorbonne)

Part I :

What is regulation ?

What is « regulation » ?

Bring order in the chaos

A great number of means

Legislation

•State

•Other public bodies

•Self-legislationSelf-regulation

•Unilateral

•Multilateral

Contracts

•Model-law CNUDCI

•CCI

Labels

Alternative dispute resolution

Technical mesures

•Access restriction

•Watermarking

•ERMS

Regulation ?

State of the art

•Netiquette

•Good usage

Regulation is not legislation Legislation is « a » form if regulation :

State legislation ; Other public/non-public bodies legislation

No exclusion between the two

Boundaries of State legislation as far as the Internet is concerned : International ; Immediate ; Worldwide ; Everchanging ; Multiplicity of

content’s nature ; Multiplicity of the scales ; Topology principle ;

Legislation is nevertheless necessary : Draw a framework and leave it to other regulation means ; Make it technologically neutral ; Respect the subsidiarity principle ;

Coregulation

Part II :

Content regulation : what for ?

Illegal content for both adults and minors (offensive to human dignity)

Illegal if online

Harmful content : legal but liable to harm (mainly the minors) by impairing their physical and/or mental development

Part III :

Illegal content :

The example of child pornography

The recent EU framework decision

Recital nr 5:

“ child pornography, a particularly serious form ofsexual exploitation of children, is increasing and spreading through the use of new technologies and the Internet ”.

Objective of the decision

To harmonize the legislative and regulatory provisions of the Member States concerning police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

To introduce at European level joint framework provisions to address certain issues such as the creation of offences, penalties, aggravating circumstances, jurisdiction and extradition.

Actual definition of a “minor”

14 (sauf exceptions)

Australia

Austria

BelgiumDenmark

Finland

FranceGermany

GreeceIceland

IrelandItaly

LuxembourgThe Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

16-17

14

16

15

16

15

14

15

14 - 16

17

13/14/16

16

16

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13

15

16

16

14

18

17

18

18

18

18

17

18

18

18

18

18

18

16

Country Sexual MajorityFor the purpose of

paedo. porno

Towards an harmonization of the minor

In the framework decision, a “child shall mean any person below the age of 18 years”.

Incriminated acts

production of child pornography

distribution, dissemination or transmission of child pornography

supplying or making available child pornography

acquisition or possession of child pornography

Part IV :

Illegal content if online :

The example of casinos

Casinos in various countries (Belgium, France, UK, etc.) : licence limited to « bricks and mortar »

Legal issues : The no-prior authorisation principle for

information society services The non-discrimination principle The Gambelli case

Part V :

Harmful content :

The example of freedom of speech

The principle : freedom of speechThe fundamental democratic principles of

freedom of expression and respect for privacy, enshrined in Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, must be observed, and any measure restricting these freedoms must be legitimate, necessary for the aim pursued, and strictly proportionate in the limitations it imposes.

"Harmful content" is : a material which is authorised but subject to

distribution restrictions (adults only, for example);

or material which some users might find offensive even if, on the grounds of freedom of speech, there are no restrictions on publication.

Examples : pornography ; tobacco ; alcool ; medicines and drugs ; racist messages ; some films and books (violent content); etc.

The exception : harmful content

The difficult balance : the french example

Criminal code , art. 227-24 :« Le fait soit de fabriquer, de transporter, de

diffuser par quelque moyen que ce soit et quel qu'en soit le support un message à caractère violent ou pornographique ou de nature à porter gravement atteinte à la dignité humaine, soit de faire commerce d'un tel message, est puni de trois ans d'emprisonnement et de 75000 euros d'amende, lorsque ce message est susceptible d'être vu ou perçu par un mineur ».

A partial answer : the internal market principle

“Each Member State shall ensure that the information society services provided by a service provider established on its territory comply with the national provisions applicable in the Member State in question which fall within the coordinated field”.

“Member States may not, for reasons falling within the coordinated field, restrict the freedom to provide information society services from another Member State”.

The risicos : virtual paradises

• January - June 2003 : 1276 reports received

Hosting of websites 01/01/2003- 30/06/2003

20,00%

47,00%

33,00%

Eastern Countries

United States

Rest of the World

Part VI :

A few examples of regulation online

Self-regulation initiated by the sex industry The legal means : sectorial

codification Why ? : eradicate child

pornography Examples : ASACP – Home ;

http://www.pedowatch.org/ ; ABAIXO ASSINADO

Self-regulation initiated by the internet industry France : AFA (Association des

fournisseurs d’Internet) www.pointdecontact.net

UK : ISPA Code of Practice Italy : Codice di

Autoregolamentazione per i servizi Internet www.aiip.it

Technical measures

Content verification systems

Age verification systems

Labels

Examples : The Internet Content Rating Association http://www.icra.org/ ; Safesurf Internet Rating Standard http://www.safesurf.com/ ; Access-Control www.access-control-software.com

Part VI :

Q & A

Thank you !