Poland apparently planning to control Internet much more strictly

Poland is apparently planning to make its control of the Internet drastically stricter. heise Online Poland, the Polish sister website of The H, reports that the government is working on new legislation already. The new law would create a registry of websites to be blocked and force Internet service providers to hand over detailed user data to investigators, for instance.

This new Internet legislation would be part of a law initially passed to combat problem gambling and illegal financial transactions; that law is currently being revised. It is unclear, however, whether the proposed amendments will actually be adopted. Heise online Poland reports that negotiations about the revised law, of which there are currently two versions, resumed on Thursday.

One version is especially controversial: police and other authorities would be authorized to blocked websites immediately without any judicial review if the content is deemed unsuitable. Polish Electronics Communications Chairperson Anna Strézynska says such authorization would go too far. The head of the authority that would manage the registry of blacklisted websites, she told heise online Poland that the law would basically rule out the possibility of reviewing the legality of such blocks.

The list of user data that would have to be retained is also a bone of contention. If the draft becomes law, Internet service providers will not only be obligated to save their customers' first and last names, but also other data, including registration and e-mail addresses, official ID numbers or – if none was given – passport numbers or reference number from some other identity document of each user.

(djwm)