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By Lisa Burroughes, 6 September 1999 06:45

NEWS The Internet industry is this week one step closer to presenting a unified front to the government. The Internet Users Privacy Forum (IUPF), which is comprised of ISPs and user associations, is in the final stages of drawing up a code of best practice, which it claims will consolidate its position when facing any future government legislation proposals. However, there are still a number of grey areas that the forum can't agree on. The central issue is the amount of information ISPs should keep about the activity of users. Keith Mitchell, chairman of Linx, told Silicon.com: "It would be more difficult for an ISP to keep their services up and running without it. Spam, hacking and other network fraud can only be prevented if you keep this information." But, Nicolas Bohm, solicitor and policy advisor for Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties, argued: "Government legislation is moving towards a general presumption that whether it is communications or Internet traffic, this information should not be kept, unless it is in cases of network abuse fraud." However, Mitchell pointed out this option would be more costly for the ISP. According to Bohm, it is exactly this kind of issue that makes having a unified approach so important. " Current Government legislation could impose huge new costs on the Internet industry and give regulators draconian powers over it. There are also important continuing developments at European Community and International level. It is vital for the Internet industry to develop a well-organised and coherent response to all these initiatives," he said. Those involved in the IUPF include, Linx, ISPA, the Data Protection Registrar, Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties, Internet Society and the Foundation for Information Policy Research. The next meeting will take place on 3 November, meanwhile the discussion so far can be reviewed at http://www.iupf.org.uk