Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported this week that a controversial
law, Penal Code Article 301, is to be applied vigorously by Turkish
authorities against *Internet crimes* that include online gambling. The
legislation is apparently targeted on "indecent broadcasting and online
gambling", and the Information Technology Security Agency will have the task
of blocking broadcasts and offending sites as defined by the Turkish Penal
Code. Restrictions are being introduced by the Code that amount to
censorship of the internet, claims the newspaper report, where people have
hitherto enjoyed Internet freedom to express their ideas in recent years.
According to the bill, ostensibly drawn up to combat child abuse, indecent
broadcasts and online gambling, one of the most important tasks of the
Information Technology Security Agency will be to obstruct broadcasts. It
appears that the manner in which this is to be achieved is through court
orders sought by the Agency following extensive monitoring of suspected
sites. The court orders will presumably be served on ISPs. Legal action will
also be instituted against site owners where these can be reached. Penal
Code Article 301 is controversial because of its widening application
regarding Internet offences such as "Denigrating Turkishness, the republic
and the institutions and organs of the state," under which many free
thinkers including Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, have apparently
been prosecuted. Punitive measures in the Penal Code are tough: Article 299
makes insulting the president a crime punishable by between one and four
years' imprisonment. If committed via the media then add one third.
"Broadcasts" made over the internet in contravention of Article 301
"Denigrating Turkishness, the republic, the institutions and organs of the
state," can attract sentences between six months and three years in prison.