Solon wants stricter penalties against online porn peddlers

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- Opposition senator Loren Legarda wants to impose heavier penalties against peddlers of pornography on the Internet.

Citing one online forum called "Boy Bastos," Legarda said that her Anti-Computer Pornography Act aims to "reinforce the war on electronic smut."

Under Senate Bill 1375, people found peddling child pornography and other "indecent materials" online would be punished with up to six years in prison or a fine of as much as P500,000, or both, as indicated in her bill, a copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net.

The proposed law wants to make "any remote computer facility operator, electronic service provider or electronic bulletin board service provider to knowingly transmit, offer or attempt to send any communication that contains indecent material, to a person under 18 years of age" unlawful.

Legarda also stressed the need for Congress "to protect children from indecent and immoral materials conveyed through computer technology."

The bill defines indecent materials as those "obscene literature or indecent or immoral plays, scenes, acts, or shows, whether live or in film."

"These include materials that glorify criminals or condone crimes; serve no other purpose but to satisfy the market of violence, lust or pornography; offend any race or religion; tend to abet traffic in and use of illicit drugs; and are contrary to law, public order, morals, good customs, established policies, lawful order, decrees and edicts," the bill explained.

Legarda urged agencies like the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to look into websites containing porn or related materials.

The IACAT is composed of the departments of justice, social welfare, foreign affairs and labor, as well as the immigration bureau, the police, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and three groups representing women, children and overseas workers.

Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal also filed a similar bill two years ago that wanted to make the mere possession of child pornography a crime.

Republic Act 7610, the "Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act," currently penalizes child prostitution and sexual abuse, child trafficking, and obscene publications and indecent shows involving minors.

State Prosecutor Geronimo Sy said there are other laws like Republic Act 8792, or the E-commerce Act, and the Republic Act 9208, also known as the Anti-Trafficking Persons Act, that can be used to penalize online peddlers of child pornography.

"All these laws can serve as a start for protecting our children," he said in a telephone interview. But as to laws prohibiting distribution of online pornography in general, there exist no "focused" legislations yet.

Australia to give away porn-filtering software

Country's IT minister says $86 million allocated for free online downloads of a Web application, yet to be chosen.

The Australian government plans to spend about $86 million to provide all the country's families with free Internet pornography-blocking software.

Helen Coonan, the minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, announced the initiative Wednesday. A representative of Coonan told ZDNet Australia that the first free filters should be available for download from a government portal within six months.

Helen Coonan "It puts a safer Internet experience within the grasp of every Australian family, and it is a solution to the problem posed by Internet pornography that is simple, safe, effective and free," Coonan said in a statement.

"Every parent will be able to receive a free filter for their home computer, (and) there will be child-safe terminals in libraries across Australia."

It's likely that the Australian government will covet political mileage from the initiative, with the minister's release tipping a "comprehensive national community education campaign" designed to "ensure that all Australian families are aware of the benefits of regulating their children's Internet experience by using a safe and effective computer filter."

At this stage, no specific filtering software has been selected for the initiative. The minister's representative said an accreditation process will be put in place. Internet service provider-level filtering will also be an option for customers of providers that offer it.

"Under this scheme, families will be offered a filtered service or a free filter for their home computer, either for download from a dedicated Web site or delivered to them on CD-ROM," Coonan stated. "All ISPs will also be required to offer filters to new and existing customers at no additional cost."

ISPs will be rebated if they choose to offer filtering at a service provider level.

The government's Internet safety agency, NetAlert Limited, will receive a $3.68 million funding boost and become co-located with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Of the total spending, $68.69 million will be spent on filtering software over three year. Coonan's representative says the program will be reviewed in its third year.

According to the representative, almost no ISPs currently offer any kind of content filtering, so the government will study the feasibility of ISP-level filtering for a fourth time.

Patrick Gray of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.

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Cyber cops to stamp out human trafficking, child porn online

By Alcuin Papa - Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines -- Human traffickers, online child molesters and perpetrators of child pornography, beware!

The Philippine National Police (PNP) now has cyber cops surfing the Internet for websites that traffic Filipino women and children and abuse children online.

According to Director Geary Barias, chief of the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, a proposal to set up a Women and Children’s Crimes Division (WCCD) in Camp Crame has been approved by the National Police Commission.

The new unit, which will be operational by end of August, will focus on child pornography and the trafficking of females, on and off the web.

On Thursday, around 100 police officers and government prosecutors finished a four-day course for law enforcers on how to address the trafficking of children and women on the Internet.

The seminar, held at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), featured speakers from international groups like the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), the Interpol, the United States Embassy and Microsoft Phil.

“The seminar is an eye-opener for law enforcers on the existence of child pornography and human trafficking. We are committed to control all crimes, in the virtual world or otherwise,” Barias said.

He said it gave the PNP the opportunity to network with foreign counterparts and to strengthen relationships with international law enforcement agencies in the fight against transnational crimes.

Chief Superintendent Yolanda Tanigue, chief of the DIDM’s women and children’s crimes division, said the new cyber cops would be using “sting” and surveillance operations against child molesters.

“We will have agents posing as children online to chat with molesters. We can set up a meeting and nab them,” she said.

She said the law enforcers learned during the course that certain online communications could be used as evidence in cases against perpetrators.

In the case of websites featuring child pornography, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza said the DIDM would use “computer forensics” to track down the operators of the website.

Incidents of online pornography involving women and children have been on the rise, Mendoza said.

Websites are proliferating in middle-class and slum areas because computers are now affordable and easy to set up to go online, according to him.

Ruben Rodriguez of the ICMEC described the campaign to stamp out child pornography as a global concern.

“There are officers around the world pursuing these offenders. They are conducting sting operations all over,” he said.

Rodriguez said local law enforcement needed to set its priorities right.

“It’s not that you don’t have the commitment. It’s more of what direction you want to take. What are the priorities and how much resources are you willing to put in? Fighting cybercrime is very resource-intensive,” Rodriguez said.

Philippine law enforcement also needed to keep abreast with new technology, he said.

“The Internet is evolving. What you learn today is passé in six months. To fight cyber crimes, you need a team of dedicated people who specialize in investigating these kinds of crimes,” Rodriguez said.