Net-bashers land in the net

By K. Kannan

NEW DELHI, NOV. 27. In an attempt to fight young pornography- watchers in South Delhi's Dakshinpuri area where the State Government had set up 30 information kiosks with internet facility an a year ago, hidden remote-surveillance cameras have been installed to prevent its misuse.

The cameras swing into action the moment anyone tries to misuse the facility -- and within minutes the culprit's photograph is flashed on all 30 kiosks. ``This embarrasses the culprit so much that he does not dare to make another visit to such a site,'' says Dr. Sugata Mitra, Head of the Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems at NIIT, the Delhi Government's partner in the project.

The computer education project in slums -- known as ``Hole in the Wall'' -- was launched by NIIT in a slum cluster at Govindpuri last year. With support from the Government and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, the project soon took roots and right now there are 30 such kiosks across Dakshinpuri.

Initially there were teething troubles as the area has many juvenile delinquents. The greatest challenge was misuse of the kiosks by slum youths for pornography. ``It is amazing how they pick up know-how about the web's indecent exposure,'' says Dr. Mitra.

As Subhash Aggarwal, owner of a shop opposite Virat Cinema, puts it: ``We have complained several times to NIIT. We even caught one person who was misusing the facility and gave him a good thrashing.''

Two months ago, Dr. Mitra hit upon the idea of remote surveillance. ``After we installed these cameras, the problem has been contained,'' he says. ``Not only am I able to monitor from my office who is doing what but the moment someone transgresses the limits he is caught.''

According to some local residents, however, the problem still persists. But a beginning has been made.

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