BPN 1025 EU: safer internet for children at 55 mln euro

Last week the EC announced an even safer internet programme for 2009 till 2013. In the past weeks we have been able to see on the national levels several expressions of the present programme running from 2005 till 2009.

In the Netherlands the awareness club Digibewust published a pdf downloadable brochure for the family on how to handle internet dangers. The brochure is cooperation between government and business as Liberty/UPC sponsored the publication. The brochure got straight away flack. It was not because of the brochure itself, which has been a co-production between countries. And you can see that. It is a black colour film production. In the brochure only the text has been translated, while almost all the illustration have been left in tact, this is in English. No adaptation or translation. Even an exercise in SMS lingo has not been translated or adapted; this while there is at least one SMS dictionary in Dutch. Yet the spokesperson for the awareness club characterised the brochure as successful and a real European product. I beg to disagree with the lady: if European means that we are not going to adapt and translate colour film illustration because of the costs, give us national products and you can not call a brochure successful without a survey measuring the effects. I think more effort should be put into producing such a brochure.

But the brochure got real flack as it had been merely translated in Dutch and not adapted to the legislation. As for downloading the brochure states that downloading is forbidden. In the Netherlands downloading is still not forbidden. Of course music companies and lobbies like NVPI would love to see it. However, present legislation still allows people to make and save a copy at home. Selling copies commercially and uploading music or movies is forbidden in the Netherlands. The spokesperson has granted the mistake in the meantime; however the awareness club will not change the brochure, but will add a note (which has not been added up to this day of writing).

I am not sure whether this brochure will be very successful. I was more impressed by the Belgian game Become Webwise, in French and Dutch. The game is available on the 100 per cent safe site Kid City (supported by the local telecom incumbent Belgacom). Kid City cooperates in this game with Action Innocence. Aim of this project is to contribute to integrity and dignity of children on internet. The game challenges kids and parents about their knowledge of internet. The objective of the game is to get kids and parents to talk about the positive and negative sides of internet. The game has a back-up by way of help desk for children.

Blog Posting Number: 1025

Tags: safe internet