ISPA comes under fire for lacking unified voice

The Metropolitan Police has slammed ISPA, just weeks after coming under attack from the Internet Service Providers Association for sending out a letter which asked its members to sever access to 133 newsgroups.

The Police criticism came as the debate on child pornography on the Internet raged on, and as ISPA came under further fire from its own ranks. Barely concealing his disappointment at ISPA, Superintendent Michael Hoskins, head of the Met's Clubs and Vice Squad, said: 'I was naive to have expected one organisation to deal with this situation efficiently.'

ISPA, which has 150 members, has been hit by internal squabbles and the resignation of its political advisor Peter Dawe.

James Gardiner, marketing manager at Demon Internet, which has chosen not to join ISPA, said: 'ISPA hasn't done what it set out to do and we need to look to Linx (London Internet Exchange) to resolve this.' Linx is a rival organisation to ISPA but, with 28 members, much smaller.

Andy Cowen, technical director of Waverider, an ISP in the Midlands, agreed with Gardiner: 'They [ISPA] just don't seem to be able to get it together and speak with a single, representative voice.'

Despite the attacks on ISPA, Linx chairman Keith Mitchell was unable to promise harmony within his group. 'It's an impractical and unachievable objective to believe this industry will ever speak with one voice. Such is its nature.'

The wranglings over which association represents the community do nothing to help the industry, according to Chez Hammil, ISPA's chairman. 'We are all working towards a common goal here. This gulf of opinion is a fallacy which is worsened by widely inaccurate media reports and me taking a holiday.'

Hammil's holiday break meant he was unable to comment on the events of the last two weeks, but added: 'This industry is capable of speaking with the same voice.....I'm still confident we can do that. We don't want bickering and in-fighting.'

Hammil made no attempt to hide from the criticism aimed at ISPA. 'If we are guilty of anything, it is that we have failed to adequately communicate to members our efforts to unite this industry.'

He made it clear that ISPA wanted to move to a system of self regulation, 'negating the need for any police involvement whatsoever'.

Comment: Both associations have their strengths and weaknesses, but it's time to put differences aside. There are too many people sounding off on the issue of indecent material on the Net, when what users need is someone in authority to tell them to shut up. While we're against police intervention in this matter, if it's the only means to a solution, then so be it.