THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120370
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
If your child is surfing the computer networks unsupervised, beware.
America Online Inc. has reported some of its members to the FBI for sending child pornography through electronic mail.
The incident occurs as the courts deal with a first wave of cases testing the privacy of on-line service members, the transmission of copyrighted material and the distribution of pornography electronically.
Major on-line services such as Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online are trying to find a balance between honoring the privacy of their members and policing their networks.
America Online, a Vienna, Va.-based service with 1.5 million members, has canceled the accounts of some of its members after others complained of child pornography being sent over the computer network.
Federal law prohibits a third party from monitoring e-mail, but America Online employees reported the pornography purveyors to the FBI after the e-mail was turned over to the company.
``Our policy is that all private communications - including e-mail, instant messages, and private chat rooms - are strictly private,'' American Online President Stephen M. Case wrote in a letter to members last week. ``We do not, will not and legally cannot monitor any private communications.
``But if we are alerted to a potential offense and we are sent evidence, as we were recently, we will vigorously pursue the matter.''
The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 makes monitoring of electronic communications illegal, just as eavesdropping on telephone calls is illegal.
Still, America Online had a moral obligation to turn in its members once the on-line service became aware of their actions, said Mike Godwin, legal counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a Washington group that seeks to protect the privacy of computer users.
``Even though they can't randomly snoop, they certainly can respond when they're told that such and such a user is distributing child pornography on the service,'' Godwin said.
After a similar incident in 1991, on-line service providers banded together and developed a ``child safety'' brochure for parents whose children were using computer communications.
The courts and legislators have yet to clarify to what extent an on-line operator - or a computer bulletin board service - is responsible for its content. A Milpitas, Calif., couple is appealing the decision of a federal court in Memphis, Tenn., that convicted them of violating Memphis' community standards by making pornographic images available from a computer in their California home.
Adult bulletin board systems, such as the one operated by the California couple, are easily accessible to anyone with a computer and a modem. Most of the bulletin boards try to restrict usage to persons over age 18. David Taylor, the operator of a Virginia Beach adult bulletin board called Pleasure Dome, offers nude images and adult chat forums, but said he draws the line at child pornography.
The major on-line service providers are targeting a broader audience than local bulletin board systems. They are trying to keep the seedier elements of the on-line world off their networks so that they can sell their services as safe for all ages.
``We strongly encourage parents to monitor their children's use of this medium,'' Case wrote, ``much as they would any other medium such as television, magazines, etc.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
America Online President
Stephen M. Case
Color illustration by John Corbitt
Source: Interactive Service Association
On-Line Guidelines for parents
[For complete text, see microfilm.]
by CNB