MWEB responds to ‘online spying’ concerns
A recent email from MWEB to one of its subscribers about possible abuse and copyright infringement regarding their Internet traffic raised concern among many netizens that MWEB may be monitoring their subscribers’ traffic.
eMail warning about copyright abuse
An anonymous source informed MyBroadband that they received an email from MWEB warning them about abuse and copyright infringement.
According to the source – who has a Diginet leased line with MWEB – the email with the subject ‘abuse, copyright infringement’ read:
“The IP xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx was used to download copyrighted material. The administrator or engineer of the network is to trace the IP and have the copyrighted material removed from the system…”.
MWEB explains
MWEB said that they do not actively monitor user activity for purposes of detecting copyright infringement, but that they do pass on messages coming from organizations that are tracking these kinds of activities.
“Notifications [as in the example], are sent to MWEB from organizations who may have an interest in preventing copyright protected material from being disseminated via the Internet,” MWEB said.
“These independent organizations track what they believe to be illegal downloading through their own monitoring processes which include the lookup of originating and/or destination IP address, as relevant, on an IP Registrar website. They may, as part of a specific investigation or incident, send an email notice to the administrator of the IP block as listed on the IP Registrars website.”
MWEB said that in the event that they are contacted by a company who believes that one of their subscribers has violated a copyright provision, they will contact and inform the subscriber accordingly.
Big Brother
The issue of website and Internet traffic monitoring by Governments or ISPs is a hot topic among Internet users.
Many people feel that the Internet should be a completely anonymous environment where users can freely share content and voice their opinions without fear of prosecution.
Others disagree, arguing that the Internet can be used for various illegal activities like child pornography, terrorism and copyright infringement. These parties generally ask for stricter controls over the Internet and Internet users.
South Africa is very much part of this debate, and the recent request by ID leader Patricia De Lille for stricter control and even censorship in cyberspace highlighted this issue.
The debate is sure to rage on for many years to come, pitting the Internet’s free spirits against those who would like to see a more strictly governed online environment.
Loading ...