Towards an information control policy model - Achieving more transparency in internet filtering approaches

Internet filtering is the manipulation of Internet communication in order to prevent the access and exchange of unwanted data. According to the reports of the OpenNet Initiative, Internet filtering emerges all over the world. Although many filtering techniques are legitimated by a similar legal basis, most of them are implemented differently. This paper explains the need for a policy language model that is able to describe Internet filtering techniques on different levels of abstraction including their legal basis and their technical implementation aspects. The paper further explains the requirements for such a model and outlines a first concept.