Germany passes landmark laws to regulate Internet (400)

Legislation passed by Germany's parliament in Bonn will require media operators, including those operating on the Internet, to be licensed. Germany has thus become one of the first governments to attempt to regulate the Internet, in a move that is expected to set a pattern for other European nations.

Services such as email and videoconferencing do not class as media and do not require a licence, the Federal Government has ruled, but Internet service providers offering content will need a licence. The rulings are expected to set the standard for European rulings on controlling electronic media.

Officials from the state of Bavaria indicted the German head of Compuserve earlier this year because the service his company provided gave German citizens access to material deemed illegal in Germany, namely neo-Nazi propaganda and child pornography. Since then, Germany has been at the centre of a worldwide debate about liberty versus censorship on the Internet and the limitations of local legislation's power over an international medium.

With the passing of the Information and Communications Services Act, which takes effect on 1 August, Bonn is one of the first governments that has formulated a legal framework for the otherwise unregulated Internet.

"With this law we are taking on a vanguard position," said Justice Minister Edzard Schmidt-Jorzig. "Germany desperately needs to grasp its opportunities this time."p> Opposition politicians said the government's bill will hinder investment and damage the trust of ordinary citizens in the new technologies, but it was welcomed as a positive step by the Germany Federation of Industry.

Meanwhile White House sources have denied a story in Monday's 'New York Times', which claimed the US government is softening its position on the Communications Decency Act, which also seeks to regulate 'indecent' material on the Net. The story described administration officials as "preparing a policy that undercuts the administration's strong support of the law".

But one member of the taskforce involved in the process said the administration is drafting a statement regarding censorship on the Net that is consistent with the White House's previous support for the CDA. The White House is expected to release its Framework for Global Electronic Commerce on 1 July.