"You will be assaulting the secularists' holy temple," close associates of Communications Minister Ariel Atias warned.

Atias was not deterred: he is drafting a bill to block free access to pornography, violence and gambling websites, and means to pursue the effort.

His faction colleague Amnon Cohen (Shas) has already drafted a bill obliging all consumers to who wish to consume violent or pornographic web content to register with their Internet service provider (ISP), which will use a fingerprint-based biometric identification system to verify the subscriber is an adult.
 
True, Cohen's bill is futuristic. The technology doesn't exist today, and everyone knows it. At best, such a system might be technologically feasible in a few years, but in a country that has been waiting almost three years for the telephone number portability law to be implemented - the bill's chances are next to nil.

Cohen's bill was apparently meant to serve as a litmus test for Atias, to check the reactions of the public, politicians and the industry regarding web censorship in Israel.

This is not the first time MK Cohen has drawn fire over a communications bill, thus serving Atias' interests. This happened with Cohen's bill on extending regional radio station concessions, without a tender.

Atias kept silent throughout the heated debate, but the ensuing pressure on the Second Authority for Television and Radio has forced the authority to examine this issue, and may even pave the way for Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox radio stations, which Atias supports.

Screening Web content, on the other hand, is a matter of supreme importance to Atias, and apparently, he will not let anyone else deal with it - not even MK Cohen.

The fact that Atias does not use the Internet at home did not keep him from drafting one of the most important reforms prepared by a communications minister in recent years - the Internet telephony policy.

In the past year, Atias has succeeded in passing several other important reforms, to the chagrin of the cellular telephone giants. Atias claims, and rightfully so, that in this multimedia era, it is unreasonable that pornography or harsh violence are meticulously trimmed from television programs, while the Internet has no censorship or control.

Although this exists throughout the world, Atias is apparently trying to solve the problem with a particularly radical and aggressive move.

Atias' bill seeks to require Israeli ISPs to use a screening device that prevents access to pornography and gambling sites unless a subscriber specifically requests such access. Atias has discussed this matter with the Justice Ministry and communications professionals, in an attempt to reach an agreement on a mode for screening content.

Even though the ISPs already market content-screening software, Atias says this is an unsatisfactory solution.

He finds it hard to believe that families will voluntarily install the screening software and feels content should be screened at the switching centers. Of course he realizes this would mean an invasion of the subscribers' privacy, as their names would be recorded in the ISPs' databases.

Still, Atias has rejected efforts to dissuade him from the inevitable clash with secular groups that are planning to object to the bill on the basis of invasion of privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of occupation, to name a few.

Atias recently completed the first step toward increasing online supervision and preventing harm to minors, when he ordered that the licenses of the cellular companies be amended.

As of last week, the companies have stopped allowing free access to erotic services via their cellular Web portals - in order to receive such services, adult subscribers must send a copy of their ID card to the cell phone company.

This step has made it harder for minors to pose as adults. Despite this change, minors can still surf the Web freely, including to pornography sites, via their cell phones.

Atias' bill on Internet censorship is aimed at silencing claims that he is clamping down only on cellular services.

Instead of calling for censorship, Atias could require the ISPs to provide all their subscribers with the home screening software, and let parents decide whether to use it. Atias, however, is not likely to compromise on this issue, and the public struggle for online freedom is inevitable.