The Yomiuri Shimbun
Major Internet service providers now block access to Web sites that offer child pornography.
This began in late April after the Cabinet's crime countermeasures conference concluded that "blocking access to child pornography can be done under the current law if certain conditions are met."
Blocking sites, which is effective in preventing the proliferation of child pornography, also is carried out in Europe and the United States. Blocking access to online child pornography should be legally authorized from the viewpoint of preventing harm to children and protecting public welfare.
Heinous images of the sexual abuse of children are shown on many Web sites. The law for punishing acts related to child prostitution and child pornography bans the provision of child pornography regardless of whether compensation is received. But only a small number of violators have been punished.
A special panel in place
A private body consisting of experts and Internet service providers has been established to implement this measure. Meetings of the panel, specializing in the implementation of measures to prevent the distribution of child pornography, are also attended by government observers.
Under the panel's supervision, a task force including Net service providers compiles a list of IP addresses subject to restriction based on its own information and other data provided by police. Blocking access to Web sites offering child pornography is conducted by the Net service providers themselves.
Nine major Net service providers have joined the special task force. Their customers reportedly account for about 70 percent of Internet service users. The remaining 500 small and midsize providers do not belong to the organization, so it is necessary to ensure participation and cooperation by these providers.
Balance protection, freedom
It is feared that blocking sites could infringe on freedom of expression depending on what is targeted and how it is applied.
Ideally, access to illegal images would be blocked on an individual basis without unduly obstructing communications of general Net users. But for now, a system to block access to entire Web sites has been adopted to save costs.
But blocking is limited in principle to sites aimed mainly at displaying child pornography, a measure to prevent access to a site from being blocked in its entirety on the grounds of a single illegal image.
Judicious and highly transparent operation of the system is required to obtain the understanding of the people. Verification of the effect of blocking is also important to enhance the functions of the system.
Beyond the use of Web sites, illegal images have also been transmitted between personal computers via e-mail or file-sharing software. In these cases, it is technically difficult to block access.
Despite such problems, the introduction of the blocking system is a significant first step toward eliminating child pornography from the Internet.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 16, 2011)
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