Silicon.com: Cyber Sherlocks need to tread softly softly

[Owen Blacker]

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> HEADLINE: Cyber Sherlocks need to tread softly softly
> PUBLISHED: 6:00pm on Friday 16th February 2001
> CHANNEL: Ebusiness security
> AUTHOR: editorial@silicon.com
> SERVICE: http://www.silicon.com
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> TEXT OF STORY FOLLOWS:
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> UK police have criticised ISPs for failing to crack down hard=20
> enough on paedophiles using the internet.=20
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> The heads of the National Crime Squad gathered in Birmingham=20
> earlier this week and wagged their collective fingers at ISPs=20
> for being slack at monitoring their servers for illegal=20
> material, and so breaking the law.
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> The comments came as part of the Home Office's recent =A325m=20
> campaign to chase cyber criminals out of the virtual woodwork=20
> and convince us our law enforcers really are tech-savvy.   =20
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> But the comments have upset the IT industry, which knows ISPs=20
> are more than willing to co-operate with the Old Bill.=20
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> The industry knows ISPs really shouldn't be responsible for=20
> material they unknowingly host. For one thing, it often gets=20
> on their servers through the free web space they offer=20
> subscribers. It would be impossible to examine millions of=20
> these pages without being tipped off.=20
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> But it seems the police are unaware of this simple maths.=20
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> Only a few weeks ago silicon.com reported on a policeman who=20
> demanded an ISP to reveal a subscriber's real world address=20
> and a list of all websites he or she may have visited based=20
> only on Hotmail account details. Another ISP had been asked=20
> to give address details of someone who was not even a subscriber.
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> In other words, instead of slamming those whose co-operation=20
> the detectives need most, the police should take a long and=20
> hard look at their own law enforcement tactics.
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> We were told both the above police actions could be=20
> potentially illegal under the RIP Act. So who is really=20
> breaking the law?
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> These over eager cyber Sherlocks need a code of practise and=20
> they need it now. They also need to learn how to practise=20
> good relations with the IT industry rather than blame it for=20
> their own shortcomings. =20
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> For related news, see:
> ISPs must block illegal content, says senior policeman
> http://www.silicon.com/a42747
> Online paedophilia sees seven Britons jailed
> http://www.silicon.com/a42664=20
> Porn filters get EU kitemark
> http://www.silicon.com/a41808=20
> Forger faces seven years in prison for porn email scam
> http://www.silicon.com/a41525
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> STORY ENDS
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> For more information on silicon.com go to http://www.silicon.com.
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> silicon.com - the who, what, when, where and why of ebusiness

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