Other parts of the internet are addictive.
One of the objects of this blog is to identify the legal issues surrounding social networking but also to look at the practical realities.
Parents are faced with a real problem.
There is one game that is so addictive that it now has warnings on its label. I cannot mention the name of the game for defamation reasons.
However, there is hope.
One of my clients is a leading expert in I.T. I have spent some hours with him discussing how to resolve the problem of adolescent internet addiction.
There are a variety of solutions. However, an effective solution is set out below.
Every computer in the common age that has any sort of
network connectivity, whether it be on an internal home network that does not
have access to the internet and computers that are configured for internet
access will be assigned an IP address. Normally the IP address is assigned by a
modem/router provided by the internet service provider.
All computers with an IP address then communicate with other
computers and the internet using specific ports assigned by the IP address. For
example, when you use Internet Explorer to visit the Sydney Morning Herald
website, your IP address will communicate with that web site using port 80,
which is the standard port used to communicate via unsecured HTTP. When you
visit the ANZ website and make a “secure” transaction, your IP address would
not only use port 80 to load the web page using HTTP, but also use port 8080 as
that is the “secure” HTTP port.
All applications use various ports to communicate and there
are tens of thousands of ports available that applications use, however they
are assigned ports so that they can be controlled and monitored on networks.
It is possible to “rate shape” ports on specific IP
addresses using the modem/router. Rate shaping allows you to assign a finite
variable as to “how fast” and “priority” on the network so that you can
effectively make the network traffic that travels (or uses) certain ports so slow, that although it will work, it will become tedious and
unusable. Given the changes are made on the network infrastructure they can not
be overridden from the client laptop or computer.
This is not a simple task as to implement this in a
transparent manner. My I.T. expert would need:
·
Access to the router/ADSL modem at the premises
·
Activation of logging on the modem to determine
what applications are being used, as per IP address and port number along with
an analysis of this data
·
Advice as to what the make/model of the
modem/router is (as it may need to be replaced as to allow rate shaping)
·
Additional configuration of the modem so that
static IP addresses are assigned to any devices that need to be rate shaped
·
Training for the parents so that they can
initiate the “slow down” on demand from their computer or their phone
As configuration can be made to “slow down” specific ports,
like the ones games use, this will still allow general access to the internet
to be at “full speed” referencing the above where HTTP traffic uses port 80,
there would be no modification as to how that specific port works, so only
games or applications that are deemed to be appropriate for “rate shaping”
would be modified so anything deemed appropriate would still operate at “full
speed” which is convenient.
Corporates use rate shaping for sites like Facebook and
other network intensive (costly) non-critical applications like internet radio
streaming over the internet. In the case of internet radio streaming, you need
a large amount of bandwidth so that the music streams properly and doesn’t
pause or break up. Initiating rate shaping makes it so slow it is unusable so
the users do not bother with it. To ban it outright just causes angst.
1 Analysis
and recommendation
Purchase
of new network hardware if required.
3.
Implementation
and training.
For more information, you can contact me via my Website - stephen-wilcox.com or email direct at australianlawyer@bigpond.com
Stephen Wilcox
Australian Lawyer
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