Norwegian Minister wants censoring of phone services

[Ryokan]

Som næringsminister er Odd Eriksen ansvarlig for forvaltning av statens eierskap i Telenor.

Nå ønsker han at teleselskapet tropper opp arbeidet mot spredning av barnepornografi via bildemeldinger (MMS) i deres nett.

As Minister of Trade and Industry. Odd Eriksen is responsible for the management of government ownership of Telenor (Ryokan's note: Norway's largest phone company and former government phone monopoly)

Now he wants the phone company to increase their work against the spreading of child pornography via picture messages (MMS) on their net.

I sitt svar til næringsministeren, svarte konserndirektør Morten Karlsen Sørby at det er umulig for Telenor å åpne og sjekke alle MMS som passerer deres nett.

«I post-verden vil det bety at postfunksjonærene åpnet all post for å gjennomgå innholdet», het det i brevet. Sørby framhevet at Telenor ikke har som oppgave å overvåke sine kunders private sendinger, og at å forhindre sending av barnepornografi må være en oppgave for politiet.

In his reply to the minister, CEO Morten Karlsen Sørby replies that it's impossible for Telenor to open and check all MMS-messages that go through their net.

"In the postal world that would mean that postal workers opened all mail to check the content," the letter says. Sørby says Telenor's job is not to keep the private messages of their customers under suveillance, and that stopping child pornography is the police's responsibility.

Source.

What a brilliant idea! Big Brother, anyone?