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[FYI] FP5 and "Action Plan on Promoting safer use of the Interne



                    CORDIS RTD-NEWS/c European Communities, 1999. 

                    Record Control Number: 12901

                    Date: 1999-05-04

                    Category: Programme implementation

                    General Information:

                    Researchers and companies now have the opportunity
                    to make a significant contribution to the
                    development of a safer Internet, thanks to the
                    European Commission's "Action Plan on Promoting
                    safer use of the Internet" and the Fifth Framework
                    Programme (FP5). 

                    The main objective of this Action Plan is "to
                    stimulate practical measures to help deal with
                    illegal and harmful content on the Internet". It
                    aims to achieve this within four years, with a
                    budget of 25 million euro and is made up of four
                    action lines: 

                    - Creating a European network of hotlines, and
                    supporting self-regulation; - Developing filtering
                    and rating systems; - Encouraging awareness
                    actions; - Support actions. 

                    The Commission (DG XIII/E.5) issued its first
                    calls for proposals under the Action Plan in April
                    1999. By funding this work, the Commission expects
                    to stimulate a flexible rating system for European
                    content, as well as third-party systems covering a
                    variety of European cultural and linguistic needs
                    in the field. 

                    Meanwhile, the Commission is working hard to raise
                    awareness of the Action Plan among interested
                    parties around Europe. A first information day was
                    held in Luxembourg on 19 April 1999, when the
                    first calls for proposals were outlined. 

                    "In the area of filtering tools, it is a question
                    of applying existing technology and improving the
                    existing applications. Since many existing
                    applications were developed in the United States
                    and are based on use of the English language,
                    particular attention must be paid to the needs of
                    European users, both cultural and linguistic",
                    explained Richard Swetenham from DG XIII/E.5. 

                    "The purpose of filtering and rating is to put the
                    user in control, in particular where the user is
                    responsible for children", according to Mr
                    Swetenham. 

                    A first expert conference on a European system of
                    content rating is being held in Brussels on 18 and
                    19 May. 

                    By stressing the need for international
                    cooperation, the Commission aims to emphasise that
                    the issue at stake is a global problem. Therefore,
                    cooperation with international organisations and
                    countries outside the European Union will be
                    encouraged. 

                    "The Austrian and US Governments and the
                    Commission are organising a conference on the
                    Internet and illegal content in Vienna later this
                    year. Differences in national laws are sometimes a
                    handicap in dealing with Internet crime. Work is
                    proceeding on an international convention on
                    cybercrime under the auspices of the Council of
                    Europe, and the Commission is actively involved in
                    that", explained Mr Swetenham. 

                    In the field of user empowerment, FP5 will play a
                    role. The Information Society Technologies
                    programme will fund research into intelligent
                    filtering under the "Multimedia Content and Tools"
                    Key Action, and this will be included in the
                    second IST programme call scheduled for September
                    1999. 

                    "This IST call will cover areas such as the next
                    generation of information management tools and
                    technologies", said Franco Mastroddi from DG
                    XIII/E.5. 

                    Examples of these tools and technologies are: 

                    - Automatic design, management and access to
                    richer forms of data and large, complex,
                    multimedia objects, based on metadata and mark-up
                    standards; - Automated agents, multimedia brokers
                    and brokerage architectures and models between the
                    human and content sources. 

                    Data Source Provider: European Commission, DG XIII

                    Document Reference: Based on the "Action Plan on
                    Promoting safer use of the Internet" and interview
                    with Richard Swetenham, European Commission, DG
                    XIII/E.5.

                    Programme Acronym: FRAMEWORK 5C; IST

                    Subject Index Codes: Other Technology; Scientific
                    Research; Safety; Social Aspects; Information,
                    Media; Telecommunications

                    Contact Person:

                    For further information, please access the
                    following website: 

                    URL: http://www.echo.lu/iap/ 

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