In a televised interview recorded at Beacon Hill studio, news host (Speaker B) discusses a British‑government‑initiated proposal—potentially coordinated with the incoming Obama administration—to apply movie‑style ratings to English‑language websites as a means of protecting children online. Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, explains how such a system might be enforced, suggesting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would likely set the ratings and delegate enforcement to ISPs and web hosts. He argues the rating scheme would not infringe on free speech, but would limit access to certain content. Siciliano notes that no current technology reliably verifies a user’s age, placing the burden on parents to monitor their children’s web usage. He acknowledges existing monitoring software used in workplaces and homes, recommending parental oversight as the first line of defense rather than government intervention. Throughout, he expresses support for any measures that shield children from violent or pornographic material, while recognizing practical challenges in implementation.
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Some call it policing the internet. Others say it's gonna protect kids.
Yeah, coming up next at 5:30, could website ratings soon be a reality? Your responses to our online poll and reaction from a security expert. Earlier we mentioned the British government wants to work with the incoming Obama administration to place ratings like those used in the movie industry on English-speaking websites. They say it will help protect children online. But with all the sites out there, will this really work? How will it be enforced? What about freedom of speech? So many questions. Let's get some answers. Here to explain from our Beacon Hill studio, Robert Siciliano.. He is the CEO of ODTheftSecurity.com. Robert, appreciate you joining us.
Good evening.
There are millions of web pages. Who would be responsible for saying this is appropriate, this isn't?
Well, it's a sure bet that the Federal Communications Commission would probably be the lead— have the lead role in determining what is responsible or irresponsible content, what their rating would be for a particular website. And then from there, the FCC would delegate that to the Internet service providers, or the hosts, like a Comcast that would host a small business's website, they ultimately would be tasked with that responsibility.
Pretty awesome task. Gonna take a few hours, I'm sure, to get that all online. What about the impact on freedom of speech here? I mean, that's something that the people who put the Internet together in the first place said, "That's what we're trying to keep intact here." Protecting that.
I don't necessarily see this as impacting freedom of speech. Right now we have ratings for movies and music. We have ratings for games and so forth, video games. So it wouldn't really impact free speech, but it certainly would impact access to certain types of content.
Let's talk about if this does go through, how do you monitor whether or not the user is older than 18, younger than 18?
Well, right now there currently aren't any technologies in place that makes that possible. Ultimately, that would be the responsibility of the parent to monitor their child's access.
And what about this? If it does go this way, I mean, do you think it's a good thing personally to protect the kids in this way with a movie ratings type of system?
You know, www stands for the wild, wild web, and anything that we can do to shield children from some of the violence and pornography that goes on online, I think, is a step in the right direction.
Certainly. There's plenty of software out there now that monitors what's going on at your workplace. You know that better than most. What your kids are doing, et cetera. Does that really help though in this situation?
The technology is there to monitor who's accessing what information and how. That being said, if you incorporate this technology at work or at home, you do have a large degree of control over what access your employees or your children have. That right there is the first step, and I suggest parents take that responsibility, make sure that they are monitoring what their children are accessing online so the government doesn't have to step in.
In any event, whether it goes through or not, great refresher for us all to know, right?
Yes, absolutely.
Very good. Robert Siciliano from our Beacon Hill studio tonight. Thank you.
