A Global Plan For Content Rating
     Released at a Munich conference in early September, the plan sets up what the group called a "three-layered" approach to self-regulation.
     The first step is for Web sites to voluntarily define their sites using terms that would be globally agreed upon. Next, groups from a variety of backgrounds would create their own rating systems and filters. The third layer creates what Bertelsmann calls "black" and "white" lists, where users could rate individual sites, allowing third parties to fine tune the system.
     Another important aspect of the plan calls for an international hotline where users could call and report content they find objectionable. The hotline would evaluate the concern and would ask the Internet service provider or Web site operator to voluntarily rate or block the site. If the material were illegal in the host country, the information would be turned over to law enforcement.
     Still, Waltermann acknowledges that, with the exception of child pornography, there's not much a user could do if the ISP refuses to rate or block the site, especially if that material is legal in the country where it's hosted.
     Although the proposal maintains that self-regulation alone can't work without government intervention to punish illegal content such as child pornography, Waltermann stresses that the filters would be "flexible" and are not intended for governments to curtail Net content.
     "Most of what we want is for the government to stay out of it," he said.

Getting Governments Involved
     Some international officials maintain that governments staying out of the game isn't always such a bad idea. Niam Chiang Meng, chairman of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, praised the Bertelsmann proposal, saying that the recommendations fit well with Singapore's regulation of Internet service providers.
     "We believe that the most effective way to promote the growth and development of the Internet while addressing society's concern regarding undesirable materials on the Internet is to create a government, industry and public nexus where self regulation and public education are supported by a light touch policy framework," Meng wrote in response to Bertelsmann's proposal.
     The Australian Broadcasting Authority also touted the idea of a global rating scheme, saying the Internet is "too diffuse to be easily amenable to narrow or exclusively government-based regulation" alone and that the proposal leaves enough room for each country to tailor the system for specific cultural needs.
     The Australian government has justified its controversial law regulating Internet content by saying that the same restrictions on material offline should apply online, especially when it's easy for children to gain access to the Web.

One World, One Filter
     But David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the proposals such as Bertelsmann's have too many hurdles to jump before they would become accepted, especially when it comes to an internationally accepted rating system. Child pornography is about the only thing most governments can agree should be punished, he said. After that, consensus breaks down. The problem: it's difficult to calibrate a global scale when various and sometimes disparate cultural norms blur the lines between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" online content.
     As daunting a task as creating a global norm might seem, Bertelsmann is not alone in making an attempt. The Internet Content Rating Association is seeking to expand its current rating and filtering system, called RSACi, to fit a worldwide audience.
     The system, started in 1996, now asks Web sites to rate their content on a scale of 0 to 4 on topics of sex, violence, nudity and language. Users can then set the scales blocking certain material.
     Stephen Balkam, executive director of ICRA, said the new system set to launch next summer is not meant to set up a global standard but attempts to develop a rating system that is "internationally acceptable." The old system, he argues, was seen abroad as too American.
     "It was an American response to an American problem," he said.
     In the next few weeks, ICRA will assemble an advisory board comprising academics, members of the media and child development experts from around the world to create an international rating system that he says would protect children and free speech online.
     To formulate a plan, the council will draw heavily from the Bertelsmann memo and also study ratings proposals from INCORE, a European Union-backed group that grapples with Net content issues.
     Although Balkam acknowledged it's possible governments could use the system for heavy-handed censorship, he said that does not mean the industry shouldn't attempt to police itself online.
     Like Balkam, Waltermann argues that old attempts by governments to rate Net content didn't work. Now it's time to turn to industry and consumers for solutions.
     "It's a new world," Waltermann said. "The United Nations won't make the rules nor will the governments. The users will make the rules."
- by Caroline Broder