A bill limiting internet access in Poland has been written by the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), the police and the Finance Ministry that would have providers will block designated 'dangerous' websites.The article stipulates that all Internet providers would be obliged to block websites with dangerous content. The 'black list' would be managed by the UKE, the police, intelligence agencies and the Finance Ministry.
“We need regulations allowing Internet providers to block dangerous content online, but we also need to be cautious not to limit anyone’s personal freedom in formulating them,” says Piotr Dziubak, a spokesperson of the UKE. The Finance Ministry seeks to introduce the possibility of court appeals on any UKE decision.
The piece of legislation was prompted by the issuance of a European Commission directive on Thursday calling upon internet providers to block access to users who download illegal files or use 'dangerous' websites with, for example, paedophilia or terrorist content.
Internet providers say that there are no technical problems in implementing the regulation. On the other hand, it might be pointless as the web is almost impossible to control.
“It is only a matter of several minutes to change any website’s address and move it from, say, Taiwan to British Virgin Islands. In contrast, it might take weeks to put a website on the black list,” says a spokesperson for one of Poland's internet providers. In addition, a number of internet users can already bypass the regulation by changing their IP address or their proxy server.
(pb/mmj)Source: Dziennik