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Insafe Newsletter
Issue 26: August 2007, Net Ethics |
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Welcome to the Insafe Newsletter!
Long term campaigning by organisations in the EASY campaign get Minister of Communications to open debate on Internet Safety for minors in Italy. The Minister of Communications is encouraging discussion and debate between operators, associations and families, with the intent of guaranteeing both the development and the circulation of set objectives using the Lisbon strategy. The main aim is to provide minors with a framework through which they can develop intellectually, physically and morally. This follows long term campaigning by organisations that are active in the safeguarding of minors, with Save the Children Italy and Adiconsum (partners in the EASY campaign) at the forefront. It also comes in the wake of recent news events that underscored the risks that young people run into when technology is used improperly. It is for these reasons that the Minister has launched a plan that foresees a series of initiatives for the safeguarding of minors in the use of new technologies. The plan took flight on January 8th, with the signing of the ministerial decree that compels ISPs to use filtering systems that do not allow access to sites that circulate paedophilic material and was followed by an awareness campaign for a safer use of new technologies by minors. This campaign is presented across several spheres: 
- a TV, radio, Internet, and print campaign to take place in two cycles, June/July and September, on the main national radio and television stations, newspapers, and on the major internet portals. A thirty second spot was made to be promoted via TV; viewable at http://www.tiseiconnesso.it/pag_video.php;
- the activation of the web-site www.tiseiconnesso.it, which provides useful hints and suggestions for children, parents, and teachers on safer internet issues;
- the renewal of the agreement for the administration of the emergency 114 phone service for children.
In addition, negotiations are ongoing for a new self-regulation Media and Minors Code of Conduct. It will take into consideration technical developments in this field and will gather together in one document the already existing internet and minors and TV and minors codes. This is the first example of a co-regulation code in Italy as it will also involve mobile telephony administrators along with videogames producers. Author: Save the Children Italy
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ChatCheck badge launched in Denmark
This May, a ChatCheck badge was launched in Denmark to mark Danish chat communities for children and young people as "safer". Read more
 Project EMPOWER
The UK launches Project EMPOWER – a new two year programme to keep children and young people safe and secure online.
The aims of Project EMPOWER are to empower children and young people through information and education and to help make the Internet a safer place. EMPOWER is a GBP 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) project and will be delivered over two years from 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2009.
Read more
Youth Panels
Jodie White is a 16 year old student working with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre in London. Here she gives her views on why agencies involved in child protection should establish Youth Panels. Read more
Saferinternet.at and eBay launch online safety quiz
Safe online shopping requires basic knowledge on how to handle potential risks. This is especially true for the growing group of young consumers. Against this background the Austrian awareness node Saferinternet.at launched a safety quiz in conjunction with eBay.at. Read more
 Let's stop mobile bullying
Ljubljana – In April 2007 Slovenian awareness node SAFE-SI launched a promotion campaign encouraging teenagers to stop bullying through mobile phones. With this in mind, around 500 wall posters were distributed to Slovenian secondary schools.Read more
Net ethics and intellectual property
In today’s global, technology-driven society, net ethics are often overlooked by youth when it comes to the online use of Intellectual property. Ask a U.S. student this question, “Do you think it is ethical for someone to go into a jewelry store, pick up a ring that is displayed on the counter, and walk right out of the store with it?” Any student over the age of 5 will answer correctly – that the person is wrong for stealing the ring.
Read more
Semley School wins award for innovative work in internet safety
On Monday 16th July 12 children and teachers from Semley CE VA Primary School travelled to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in London to receive awards for the work they had done for the safer internet day competition 2007. Organised by INSAFE, the awards were sponsored by Vodafone and Liberty Global Europe and each school received 1,500 Euros. Read more
 
Safer Internet Benchmarking project The Safer Internet Programme aims to promote a safer internet by offering solutions that shield minors from adult content. One of the projects studies the usefulness of tools that can be installed at home or at school and that filter bad content. Read more Porn affects your Pupils!A recent audit undertaken by PixAlert in a school uncovered inappropriate images on every PC scanned, which is nearly 5 times the average figure found in companies and the number of illicit images found per Megabyte was nearly 10 times the company average. Some put this down to the fact that companies implement more advanced preventative technology, but this is simply not the case. The truth is that students are more inquisitive and adept at finding routes around gateway prevention systems. Read more
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Italian consumers face up to online dangersRecently, numerous Italian consumers have been caught up in some online activities that have highlighted online privacy rights, copyright and fraud issues.
Adiconsum – the EASY awareness coordinator in partnership with Save the Children Italy – are fighting back from the consumer's corner and have created a special help desk to provide consumers with information, technical assistance and legal advice. Several press releases were issued, press conferences were held in conjunction with police forces and announcements on the EASY and Adiconsum web sites were made. Read more |
Decree against child abuse images on the InternetIn the wake of what has already occurred in other nations, in January of 2007 the Italian Minister of Communications, Paolo Gentiloni, issued a decree that compels Internet Service Providers to blot out within 6 hours those sites that are found to circulate, distribute, or market child abuse images. Read more
www.tiseiconnesso.it
It is the Italian Minister of Communications’ web-site that was born from a collaboration with Save the Children Italy. Read more
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Insafe is a European network of 26 nodes in 24 countries that are dedicated to raising awareness of internet safety. It is coordinated by the European Schoolnet and supported by the European Commission through the Safer Internet Programme.
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