Monday, December 12, 2005
Italian law hits cybercafes
Silicon Valley News: Italian law hits cybercafes
Maria Sanminiatelli of the Associated Press reports that the Italian government has decided to crack down on free access to cybercafes by requiring them to register with the police. The cybercafes are also supposed to keep a photocopy of the identification of anyone using the internet and be able to keep track of the sites visited by their patrons. This law was a part of an anti-terrorism bill passed after the bombings in London this past July.
The law seems to have had an effect in immigrant neighborhoods where the patrons are uncomfortable presenting their passports to use a computer. According to the owner of one such establishment: "``Before, I was full of Internet clients, now I have no one left,'' said Sohel, a gentle, middle-aged man from Bangladesh." One cybercafe in Florence has been shuttered for not complying with the law and several others have been temporarily shut down for not registering.
Is this an issue of civil liberties or just a necessary security measure against terrorism? Why should an honest person be afraid to leave their name and a record of what they viewed behind them? Or is that right to privacy exactly what a free society is supposed to protect?
Italy is the first nation in the European Union to pass such legislation. In Asia this kind of registration is not unusual:
Maria Sanminiatelli of the Associated Press reports that the Italian government has decided to crack down on free access to cybercafes by requiring them to register with the police. The cybercafes are also supposed to keep a photocopy of the identification of anyone using the internet and be able to keep track of the sites visited by their patrons. This law was a part of an anti-terrorism bill passed after the bombings in London this past July.
The law seems to have had an effect in immigrant neighborhoods where the patrons are uncomfortable presenting their passports to use a computer. According to the owner of one such establishment: "``Before, I was full of Internet clients, now I have no one left,'' said Sohel, a gentle, middle-aged man from Bangladesh." One cybercafe in Florence has been shuttered for not complying with the law and several others have been temporarily shut down for not registering.
Is this an issue of civil liberties or just a necessary security measure against terrorism? Why should an honest person be afraid to leave their name and a record of what they viewed behind them? Or is that right to privacy exactly what a free society is supposed to protect?
Italy is the first nation in the European Union to pass such legislation. In Asia this kind of registration is not unusual:
Several Asian countries and cities, most prominently China and the Indian technology hub of Bangalore, require registration at cybercafes.This legislation has not attracted much attention in Italy or in Europe, perhaps because it does not affect or worry the majority of Italians who don't need a cybercafe to access the web. What kind of surveillance are Europeans ready to accept in exchange for security and some peace of mind?
But the leaders of some of those nations tend to be thinking at least as much about inhibiting speech as preventing terror attacks in making the requirement. In Vietnam, Internet cafes also are required to block access to Web sites deemed subversive or pornographic.
