The Deleting Online Predators Act, which regulates US pupils use of the internet, has been passed by Congress. Techdirt reported the news this morning, commenting that education rather than regulation would be a better way of protecting children who use the internet.

The new legislation, soon to be approved by the Senate, will ban pupils’ use of sites such as Amazon and Myspace, because US lawmakers view the sites as potentially dangerous for young people. Techdirt argue that the new law is politically motivated, with representatives keen to play the “protecting the children” card ahead of important mid-term elections. Techdirt are also fustrated at the ignorance demonstrated by US politicians toward the internet, pointing out that users can only access Facebook if they belong to a listed school or college.

Techdirt also argue that the government should attempt to educate communities about the internet, rather than applying clumsy laws that may drive young people to genuinely dangerous sites. The British Government demonstrated this approach last year, when they launched Get Safe Online. The initiative, which was sponsored by key stakeholders such as Microsoft, aimed to help children and parents use the internet safely. The New Statesman recently reported on The Department for Education and Skills attempt to tackle online bullying, which did not ban specific websites.

Techdirt’s argument is understandable; it does appear that US politicians do need to improve their knowledge of the web. Britain’s approach to the problem appears to be more informed and progressive.

Yves Behar is the person responsible for designing the $100 laptop, which will hopefully allow millions of children to join the digital community. Wired filed a report on Yves this morning, following a report by Techdirt on India’s refusal to buy any of his computers. Yves’ work has attracted some controversy, with detractors commenting that laptops are simply not a priority for many of the world’s children.

Yves works for Nicholas Negroponte and One Lap Top per Child, a non profit making organisation. The concept is to create a laptop that cost $100, and sell a minimum of one million to respective governments. However, the process of actually doing this has not been straightforward. The technology was required to be immune to all of the elements, be highly usable and demonstrate universal appeal.

However, Yves’ work has attracted criticism, from the very people expected to support him. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Intel boss Craig Barret have all questioned the utility of the $100 laptop. Indeed, India’s decision not to place an order appears to confirm their doubts. The Indian Government have pointed out that they need to build schools and hire teachers, rather than buy laptops. While India’s decision is dissappointing, it should be pointed out that other countries are interested. Techdirt have reported that Nigeria have placed an order for one million laptops, while several South American countries are currently negotiating with Nicholas.

Yves Behar comments that one problem facing the project has been Western ignorance; we imagine the developing world to be one of abosolute poverty, when this is not always the case. He points out that many young people living in Asia and Africa do have food and water and would like to own their own computer. While the current price has crept past the $100 target, Nicholas Negroponte predicts the price will fall to $50 by 2010. It seem the future belongs to the children.

Schools Minister Jim Knight has outlined a further initiative to help stop online bullying. The new set of measures, reported on by Public Technology.net, specifically address the emerging phenomenon of cyber bullying. While the government views technological skills and monitoring as possible remedies to the problem, a more traditional approach based upon coaching children to rely on strength of character might prove more helpful.

The Department for Education and Skills web site now has a specific section dedicated to the problem of bullying and cyber bullying. The latter can be particularly unpleasant with young people creating blogs and websites to humiliate and isolate other pupils. Abusive text messages are also being sent, while “happy slapping” has already been well documented.

The minister’s plans place an emphasis upon schools monitoring all e-communications on their sites, parental supervision and encouraging young people not to respond to offensive messages. A new Education Bill will provide some backbone to this strategy, awarding more disciplinary powers to teachers and enabling local authorities to fine the parents of bullies.

However, will a new law necessarily solve this eternal problem? Strength of character and the will of a child to ignore bullies may seem like old fashioned advice to offer victims but could be just the remedy needed to beat the bullies.

The New Statesman New Media Awards took place last night at London’s Serpentine Gallery, with the worlds of politics and technology for once seamlessly coming together. The event, now in its fifth year, champions websites that contribute to public life.

David Miliband, MP and Cabinet Minister, opened the event with a speech hailing the meritocracy and democracy at the heart of new media. David also referred to the case of the blogger Petite Anglaise, who lost her job for her online activities. As the first blogging secretary of state he may have something of an interest to declare in this area. Mind you it was his Labour colleague Derek Wyatt, who won the elected representative category.

When Peter Tatchell took to the stage, some may have expected he would do a little more than simply present an award. Instead he chose to raise the case of an Iraqi who formerly worked for the British Embassy in Baghdad. He said the man is now facing extradition to Iraq and is in fear of his life. The audience was left in little doubt that the Outrage founder was using the platform to lobby David Miliband.

New Statesman editor John Kampfner also spoke, paying tribute to Kathryn Corrick, Online Manager, for organising the awards evening. The event also marked Kathryn’s last day at work.

Accessibility Award Winner. Commission for Social Care Inspection
Advocacy Award. Pledgebank
Contribution to Civic Sociey Award. mySociety: Write to Them
Education Award. Sonic Postcards
Elective Representative Award. Derek Wyatt
Independent Information Award. Open Democracy
Innovation Award. BBC Back stage
Modernising Government Award. Love Lewisham

The best local authority web sites are still failing disabled users, according to the latest survey by the Society for Information Technology Management (Socitm). Whilst this type of survey is incredibly important, an evaluation of local authority web sites should also consider more fundamental issues, such as the digital divide.

The survey was carried out in conjunction with New Media Award’s finalists, Usability Exchange who gathered a group of disabled test users. The users were asked to perform the same two tasks on each top 20 council website; the first was to find the relevant switchboard telephone number and the second was to report an abandoned car. Unfortunately, users encountered problems on every one of the sites tested. Specific problem areas included using non-standard areas of the page and ‘click here’ links.

Since local authority web sites exist to help people access very important services, this is dissapointing. Martin Greenwood, programme manager for Socitm, believes that local authority web sites exist to perform this very function. However, the majority of local authorities represent diverse communites, where many residents will not own computers or have access to services such as broadband. Local authorities are surely responsible for all of their residents, not one specific group.

This week Parliament agreed to The Data Protection Order 2006. From July 26th, anyone cautioned or convicted of buying online child pornography can expect the police to inform their bank or building society. The issuing company may then withdraw the card from the customer. Despite the direct implications for human rights, the news has received only limited coverage.

eGov monitor have reported on the legislation this morning, while The Register publicised the story last month. Previously, the police did not have the power to provide this type of information to card companies, due to existing data protection legislation. This development is the product of three years work between a number of organisations, such as The Home Office, The Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and APACS, who represent the card companies.

While the change in the law will not force card companies to withdraw their services from offending customers, they will have the right to do so. The lack of controversy surrounding the new law is a little suprising, since the sanction will also apply to people only cautioned for an offence.

Ironically, The Internet Watch Foundation released a new set of statistics this morning on child abuse images. Their statistics suggest that this type of internet content is increasingly associated with the US and not the UK. However, in recent years the UK has seen some high profile cases, where people have accepted cautions in order to a escape a protracted and demanding trial. The Data Protection Order 2006 will now impact upon individuals caught in this grey area.

Cinema Now, the US based movie download site, is in the news today. Saul Hansell, of The New York Times, has spoken to Curt Marvis, the site’s chief executive. While Saul’s article projects Cinema Now as a mainstream entertainer, this may not be the case.

The company are working alongside an elite group of Hollywood studios, such as Disney, MGM and Lions Gate. A payment of $99.95 gives the customer one years access to over 1000 movie titles.

The initial selection of featured movies are not promising, with a clear emphasis upon the erotic and the bizarre. The site’s content is seperated into sections such as Drama, Independent and Import. However, a large number of the films are merely about prostitutes. While the NYT did interview Curt Marvis, it is not clear whether they actually looked at the site. Curt recounts to the NYT how he recently watched a Cinema Now movie with his family after dinner. I would like to know which movie he watched? Perhaps it was Peter Rottentail, a film based upon a man who is “part man, part rabbit and all evil.”

Saul Hansell’s article does address relevant technical issues. It can take up to three hours to successfully burn and compress a movie. However, there may be a disparity between the site Saul describes and the site that actually exists.

Home Secretary John Reid has announced a new consultation paper on organised and financial crime. The proposals, outlined yesterday, share the common aim of reducing the ability of organised crime to function in the UK. One of the proposals looks to improve the way in which public and private organisations share data on fraudsters.

As most are aware, the Home Office is also responsible for the introduction of identity cards. This controversial move has caused some commentators and organisations to argue that their introduction will, instead of preventing identity fraud, actually help criminal gangs steal identities and commit more crime. Last year, A C Grayling, author of In Freedom’s Name: the case against Identity Cards, argued that their introduction may create a market in forged cards, supplied by organised crime.

Simon Hoggart, writing in today’s Guardian, suggests the Government cannot be trusted with such a high volume of data. While Hoggart pours scorn on Home Office Minister Joan Ryan, it’s worth noting that this issue is a little confused and distorted. The Home Office state that identity theft costs Britain £30 billion a year, yet the shadow Home Secretary David Davis suggests Goverment statistics are inflated.

Perhaps the principal issue is one of basic competence? If the Home Office is “not fit for purpose” can the department and its ministers be trusted with the country’s data.

In an attempt to crack-down on terrorists after the bombings in Mumbai last week, the Indian government are blocking blogs, reports Global Voices.

The Indian blogosphere isn’t very mature but it is furious. And rightly so. For the many are suffering because of a tiny, unsubstantiated, few. Instead of blocking specific URLs the government has blocked swathes of domains including Google’s Blogger.

In an attempt to fight back some Indian bloggers have set up proxy ways of accessing their sites to overcome accessibility. In addition, they are questioning their reliance on using common web applications offered by companies such as Blogspot, Geocities and Typepad.

We will keep you posted with any developments.

In addition to the sites we mentioned last week, Andrew Coombes (formerly of this parish) is keeping a blog about his stay in Beirut.