Should Cybercafes Be Regulated?

N E W   Y O R K, April 15 -- At dusk, the EasyInternetCafe at Times Square is just beginning to swing into its busy period.

Teenagers, traveling professionals and tourists vie for one of the store's 800 computer terminals. Nearly every spot is taken during the evening peak hours, when $1 buys about 30 minutes of high-speed Internet access.

Such Internet cafes — stores that provide food and drink along with Net access — are a convenient boon to many. But besides serving tourists or others without home computers, some "cybercafes" — especially those overseas — could be attractive to terrorists.

Already, some criminals have found how easy it is to use Net cafes.

During the war in Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that al Qaeda members used Internet cafes in Pakistan to e-mail each other in attempts to regroup after American air attacks.

And in February, those responsible for kidnapping and killing journalist Daniel Pearl e-mailed ransom notes and threats from similar computer-equipped cafes in Pakistan.

Hiding in Plain Sight?

Why use Net cafes? Simple. Unlike accessing the Net from a personal computer, public access terminals offer terrorists multiple layers of protection against discovery.

"The main thing a cybercafe provides is the Internet equivalent of a public pay phone," says Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In other words, cybercafes provide unmonitored and often anonymous access to the Internet.

Much like public pay phones, Internet cafe terminals are available for use by anyone — all without registering a name or other information with any service provider. And with hundreds, perhaps thousands of other patrons visiting a particular cafe on any particular day, criminal users can easily "blend in" with the crowd.

What's more, practically anyone can set up a store with computers and offer Internet access from their so-called cybercafe — and often with their own "rules." For example, some Internet cafes may require photo identification before patrons log on, but others won't have such requirements.