The minister forewarned ISPs that he was considering increasing their responsibility for regulating Internet content after an Australia Institute study released Monday suggested that most 16-17 year old boys had viewed sexually explicit material on the Internet, raising fears it could increase the incidence of sexually violent behaviour among adolescent males.
Alston told parliament yesterday that there were good arguments for "taking another look" at how ISPs' role in regulating Internet content might be increased.
IIA Chief Executive, Peter Coroneos, said the industry body was now preparing an "action plan" in response to the situation.
"We believe that any knee-jerk reaction based on a single report on very small sample of users would be a very unfortunate outcome that would potentially undermine the very constructive work that's been occurring with government over the last three years," said Coroneos.
However there are signs that the ISPs are running short of strategies to act on the government's concerns, the action plan at this stage limited to a publicity campaign aimed at making families aware of existing means to filter Internet content that ISPs are obliged to make available under industry codes.
"I think there's a strong case for greater awareness-raising but we would seek to have government as a partner in that process rather than an antagonist," said Coroneos.
The IIA has battled long and hard under the scrutiny of government regulators to minimise the role of ISPs in regulating Internet content under Alston's controversial Internet censorship regime.
The IIA cooperated with the government during drafting of the Internet censorship legislation, developing three industry codes that would work in conjunction with amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. The Australian Broadcasting Association ratified the codes after lengthy negotiations in 1999.
The development of the codes on the part of IIA was widely seen as a prudent alternative to a direct showdown with government with ISPs anxious to avoid onerous regulations requiring them to ensure Australians couldn't access the welter of offensive and pornographic material available from offshore sites.
Online civil liberties lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia argued earlier this week that more restrictive laws would be no more effective than current laws, due to the global nature of the Internet.
EFA executive director, Irene Graham, said that content classification model used under the current censorship were out of step with community standards, overly restrictive and increase the likelihood that Australian Internet users will be exposed to extreme content in unregulated environments.
"Mere nudity, like a Playboy magazine centre-fold, is banned. As a result, adults and teenagers seeking mainstream pornography online, visit overseas sites where they are very likely to be exposed to violent and extreme pornography," said Graham.
Coroneos is sympathetic to Senator Alston's position and claims that the current arrangement between ISPs and the government is working well, but the industry group has constantly walked a fine political line between critics of the scheme and legislators.
Alston in his infinite ignorance strikes again! There is no limit to the stupidity of this guy and the liberal party.