The Hotline
The Hotline
The Hotline exists to receive reports from the public about potentially illegal material, so it may be assessed and, if considered to be probably illegal, to instigate its removal from the Internet. The Hotline cannot engage in pre-emptive searching for illegal material, it can only react to reports from the public.
The www.hotline.ie service was established by the Internet Service Providers' Association of Ireland (ISPAI) in November 1999 as a result of recommendations made by the Working Group on the Illegal and Harmful Use of the Internet. The Working Group was established by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The www.hotline.ie service provides a secure and confidential environment where the public can anonymously report potentially illegal material encountered on the Internet. The reports can be made using the secure website at https://www.hotline.ie/report. Alternatively, reports can be made by email to report@hotline.ie, by phone (lo-call number 1890 610 710) or fax (lo-call number 1890 520 720).
When the Hotline receives a report it follows a procedure which has been agreed with the Internet Advisory Board (IAB), An Garda Síochána and with the Internet Service Providers.
The Hotline is recognised as the established service in the country to combat illegal content on the Internet.
The Hotline is run as a service of the ISPAI, a not-for-profit limited company, established in 1998 by Internet Service Providers operating in the Republic of Ireland. The ISPAI is completely funded by the industry on a cost-sharing basis. A General Manager, who is an employee of the ISPAI, manages the administrative, financial and operational functions of the Hotline. The General Manager reports to the ISPAI Board of Directors.
The Internet Advisory Board, established in February 2000 by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, monitors the effectiveness of self-regulation of the Internet Service Provider industry on behalf of Government and specifically oversees and approves the operational procedures of the Hotline.
Members of the Board include representatives of relevant Government Departments, Internet service providers, An Garda Síochána, Internet user groups, Data Protection Commission, education, child welfare bodies, media industry, a legal advisor and the Hotline.
The Hotline would not exist without the commitment of the ISPAI members, whose membership fees provide funding for the Hotline. These member ISPs take the interests of their customers and Internet safety seriously and are particularly conscious of the increasing use of their Intenet facilities by children. The Hotline is currently in receipt of funding for its operating costs through the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme (see below).
At the end of 2006, there were 21 members: BT, eircom, O2, Vodafone, HEAnet, Irish Broadband, UTV-Internet, Irish Domains, Meteor, Verizon Business, UPC Ireland (NTL/Chorus), EuroKom, Novara I.T., Clearwire, Blacknight, Strencom, Protocol, ICE Communications, Bitbuzz, VoIP Ireland, and Magnet Networks. The ISPAI hopes that with public and political awareness of Internet issues remaining ISPs operating in Ireland will choose to join those members actively contributing to generating a safer Internet environment.
The usefulness of the Hotline would be extremely limited if it could only deal with Internet content hosted or distributed from within the Irish jurisdiction. The Hotline addresses the issue of responding to reported content that is outside the Irish jurisdiction through membership of the INHOPE Association ( www.inhope.org) and cooperation with An Garda Síochána.
INHOPE (The Association of Internet Hotline Providers) facilitates and co-ordinates the work of Hotlines in responding to illegal use and content on the Internet. It facilitates good working relationships between hotlines and the exchange of reports by ensuring trust built on a rigorous hotline approval process. The ISPAI Hotline is a founding member of INHOPE.
The Hotline provides assistance to An Garda Síochána by filtering reports to determine what is probably illegal and is also located in Ireland or has an Irish dimension. This assists the Gardaí to dedicate their specialist resources to pursuing investigations within the jurisdiction by not having to deal with the majority of reports that do not contain illegal content or relate to material held in other jurisdictions.
The Safer Internet Programme of the European Commission (EC) has been instrumental in developing the Hotline network in Europe. The www.hotline.ie service has benefited from project funding since this programme was initiated in 2000. In 2006 the Hotline was successful in attracting European Commission continued funding running from March 2006 for 2 years and providing 50% of eligible operating costs under the Safer Internet Programme.
The Hotline has run visibility events to promote Internet safety issues and the importance of making reports to combat the prevalence of illegal content on the Internet. The Hotline has participated and contributed to various forums like the National Parents’ Council (Department of Education) and the High-Tech Crime Forum (Irish Banking Federation) with the view to developing safer internet initiatives. It has also provided support and speakers for events run by educational organisations, industry associations and child welfare organisations. In addition, the Hotline has provided training to staff of other INHOPE member hotlines and hosted fact finding missions from foreign law enforcement and government representatives, such as Australia, France and the Netherlands. Numerous interviews were given on TV, radio and the written press throughout 2006.
It is vital that all relevant agencies work together to promote Internet safety and provide a safer Internet environment for all.
