Stupid policies dept...

[fleetfootmike]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3789279.stm

Speaking as someone who runs an IRC server:

a) how do they propose to implement this? I assume they're targeting AIM/MSN, so will mandate updates of the clients?
b) how do I get to be a technical consultant to advise on this, since clearly it's thousands of quid to tell the government what they want to hear without bothering to think about it?
c) how do they propose to monitor private one-on-one chats (IRC DCC, AIM client-to-client chat?)

Another government policy to garner votes.

Comments

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Ah, it's all crap. It was an idea mooted at a meeting. Probably not thought out, not researched, not serious. The BBC is really going down the tubes.

[stealthgoth.livejournal.com]

Big brother is watching!

These things are actually quite simple. You get a bunch of well-paid people together in a 4 star hotel with fully paid accomodation and nice food and everything else. They have a bright idea (let's face it there is a problem), they make a public statement and then the intellegent people and the people who know the technical side of things sa: 'well you can't do this because xyz'.

So the idea get's shelved and a new meeting is arranged.

Rinse, wash and repeat. They only for the hotel and the free food.

[hrrunka]

Clearly they all had their rose-tinted sunnies on, 'cos it sounds like pink-sky thinking....

[plaid-dragon.livejournal.com]

And what about situations like filkhaven, where being asked for your address is not uncommon, but you know the person asking? You know that you know them, but a "policeman" wouldn't know that, so you could end up being warned off.

[rdmaughan.livejournal.com]

I assume the intention is to concentrate on public servers running IRC channels on topics likely to be of interest to kids.

I also suspect that this is more a combination of PR and deterant. If you think the police might be listening in then you are less likely to commit a crime. A similar approach to the spread of CCTV in the UK.

I suspect the number of police officers listening at any one time will be vanishingly small given the number of channels to monitor but it would be very difficult to know that no officer was listening in on a particular conversation.

[johno.livejournal.com]

Let me see.

Public chat rooms.
Anybody can log in and join.
Issue a warning that anyone can listen.
Issue a warning when "private info" is asked for/posted.

Sounds like just a reminder of the real world and proper net safety.

I agree with others, it's just "vote getting publicity."

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

The part which worries me is the bit about police forces around the world collaborating to provide 24/7 monitoring.

Imagine the results if, just after midnight, during US office hours, a US cop sees somebody saying, "Hi, I'm Jemima, I'm from New York, and I've just turned 16."

Clue: she's likely going to school in Horncastle, Lincolnshire.

There's so much difference between countries, and something lawful (though stupid) in one can be a crime in another.

And Jemima is likely to be 30 and male, anyway.

(Second clue: I don't even have one stripe.)