Additionally, due to an incident in which hydrogen sulfide gas used to commit suicide caused harm to neighboring residents, the NPA has specified information attracting attention on the manufacturing of hydrogen sulfide gas as harmful information and has instructed Prefectural police and the Internet Hotline Center to request internet service providers to take measures for deletion.

## 2 ) Regulation of illegal information and harmful information

The police are making efforts to grasp the situation on illegal or harmful information on the internet through cyber patrol $ ^{2} $ and reports from the Internet Hotline Center. For illegal information they are advancing crackdowns on illegal information with a focus on malicious information.

Note 1: Illegal information is defined as information which is illegal to post on the internet such as images of child pornography, indecent images, information on sales of stimulants and other controlled substances, etc. Harmful information is information that does not fall into the category of illegal information, but has the potential to trigger crimes and other incidents and should not be left uncontrolled from the viewpoint of public safety and maintenance of order.

2: Investigation for illegal information and harmful information through browsing websites, internet bulletin boards, etc.

Diagram 1-26 Outline of Internet Hotline Center

## (4) Preventative Measures against Cybercrime 1) Awareness Raising Activities

In order to improve public awareness and knowledge regarding information security, the police utilize various opportunities such as workshops held in collaboration with the police and provider liaison councils $ ^{1} $ , debates held by the request of school officials, various seminars held in the local communities and information communications technology related events, where information security advisors and others conduct lectures on the present situation of cybercrimes and their countermeasures, demonstrating the actually methods used by criminals. Other countermeasure taken by the police force include disseminating information through the NPA website (http://www.npa.go.jp/), circulating pamphlets for increasing public awareness, and broadcasting information security related videos. $ ^{2} $

## 2 ) Collaboration with the Private Sector

Since 2001, the NPA has been holding the Comprehensive Security Measures Conference $ ^{3} $ . In 2008, the theme of the discussion was “Issues of child pornography on the internet and their countermeasures,” and in March 2009 a report was compiled on the direction of activities toward preventing the spread of child pornography.

After the release of this report, in June 2009 the Council on the Prevention of the Spread of Child Pornography was launched. The council compiled a list of web addresses which post child pornography and identification information of child pornography images, and provided the list to businesses and other organizations who take measures to prevent the spread of child pornography. Additionally, they are considering the launch of a child pornography web address list management organization (tentative name) that will review the information regarding child pornography on the list.

## 3 ) Measures for Suicide Warnings

In recent years, there have been many cases of “suicide warnings” posted on the Internet as well as cases where people appeal to others and find like-minded people to commit group suicide with. Based on the guidelines for dealing with cases related to “suicide warnings,” $ ^{4} $ the police are working to deal with “suicide warnings” on the Internet through information on the posters of the warnings disclosed by Internet service providers. In 2008, the police dealt with 180 cases and 92 people were persuaded from committing suicide.

Note 1: The Prefectural Police established provider liaison councils comprised of related administrative agencies, Internet service providers, consumer organizations and others. The councils conduct information exchanges relating to the situation and methods of cybercrimes as well as on the prevention of cybercrimes, hold workshops, and create public relations material for the general public, among