09-04-2006, 10:25 AM
The number of internet paedophiles arrested has quadrupled in four years. As internet crime soars, is it time ISP start monitoring of customer activities?
<b>The Positives of ISP Monitoring</b>
If all ISPs were to monitor what each user downloaded, they could better weed out those people who download materials such as Child Pornography. Then the ISP could inform the police of the activity, while passing on the address of the person doing it. This would speed up the capture of paedophiles and help keep children safe. Some ISPs could even introduce a monitor program that keeps an eye on any P2P software installed and keeps track of the files that have been downloaded. It would be a great leap forward in the attempts to cut the growing Internet crimes.
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The Negatives of ISP Monitoring
One big negative that some people may immediately focus on is breach of privacy. Internet users should be allowed to have a strong level of privacy, to help protect their identities while online. With the increase in hacking, people could get into these programs and take personal information without you even knowing. This is very rare, but possible none the less. It is also possible that all your personal IMs and emails could be stored away without your permission and read without you knowing. This would be a major breach in your privacy.
That's both sides of the coin. Yes it would really help tackle crime...or would it be Big Brother to the extreme. You would be watched, everything you see, hear, download and everyone you talk to will be recorded.
The question is: Would you allow your ISP to monitor internet activities on the basis that it would help tackle internet crime, to protect those children?