A NEW website has been launched in Cyprus, aimed at targeting improper use of the internet.
SafeWeb describes itself as a hotline service of Cyprus dedicated to contribute to the restraint of distribution of illegal content over the Internet.
The service states that its primary concern is the elimination of child pornographic material posted on the internet while also hoping to aims to combat all other types of illegal content, dealing with pornography, racism, online gambling, data and consumer protection.
The new site service provides concerned users the means to anonymously report various illegal matters on the internet. It is partnered and supported by the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Institute of Computer Science and the University of Cyprus.
SafeWeb is part of the Safer Internet-plus programme which is funded by the European Union and is leading the battle in Europe against illegal use of the internet and works closely with Safeline, a Greek-based website offering a similar service throughout Greece.
Netymology Ltd Director Adrian Cleave told the Cyprus Mail that there are many ways of catching the culprits wishing to use the internet for illegal gain,
“The police or other relative services could set up a fake website and that could work like a trap. There are other ways like hanging around chat-rooms to pick up on gossip about illegal websites and tapping into news groups which you can find easily on the internet.
“Things are far more advanced today and authorities can trap people with encrypted images that may be circulating around the internet.”
Speaking about the set up of SafeWeb, Cleave said: “If worked properly, this site could only help the island. Educating Cypriots on the safety of using the internet is vital and obviously must be done.”
So how bad is the problem of internet piracy and child pornography on the island?
“It is apparent that there is a problem on the island with piracy and copyright issues. I have seen many sites featuring ring tones for mobile phones which I am certain have not paid for the necessary rights to distribute those tones.
“We have also seen cases where pictures are being used on websites – again which are used without the consent of the rightful owners. With regards to child pornography on the internet on the island, I don’t think the problem is as bad as it is in other countries.
“But saying that, the situation has gotten better in the last ten years. Things used to be far worse and efforts to fix the problem on the island appear to be moving in the right direction.”
In 2003, a Cypriot restaurant in Nicosia, illegally bearing the same name as a major franchising restaurant, was almost dragged through the courts after they had set ‘discount vouchers’ on their website which one could simply print out.
The restaurant came under attack when angry customers, arriving at the franchise restaurants in Moscow and New York, were told that the discount vouchers, printed off the Cypriot website, were not genuine.
The restaurant immediately took the website off the internet and a lawsuit was narrowly avoided.
www.safeweb.org.cy
