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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN

1 recommendation

insomniac84

Member

Who decides what pornography is?

First off to make a governing body decide what porn is, is antifreedom of speech. Second other countries aren't going to listen to any US law. And in the end it would be easier to designate a new port for clean sites rather than try to kick porn sites off of an already established port. And third even if you set say port 85 as clean, it doesn't stop anyone from using it. I think the best thing for crazy groups to do is make their own search engine that only lets you searched sites they approve the public can then choose to use it if they want.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Who decides what pornography is?

That's what my first thought was. Ignore for a second how ridiculous it would be to force a particular type of content into a different channel meant for a particular type of protocol. How do you define porn? Topless women? What if it's a breast cancer page? I know some religious types who would find those images objectionable even though they are intended to be educational, not titillating.

What if it's just text? Like text on a safe sex page describing how to properly use a condom. That would be objectionable to some people and might even be viewed by them as porn. Should that go onto the "Porn Channel" too?

Of course, the reasonable (but not likely supported by this guy) option would be to use a filtering system like NetNanny or any of the other few dozen programs out there to block porn from your computer if you so desire. If he wants, he can even form a "Clean Internet Service Provider" company that pre-filters porn for its users so they don't need to install any software.

The Internet's not like the Wild West, it's like New York City. Sure there are some really seedy areas that you don't want to walk down and sure there might be some "services" offered that would offend a lot of people. However, there is also a lot of positive areas (like museums and the like). On the Internet, it is actually easier to avoid the seedy/offensive sections and keep to the sections you approve of. (You won't see any "cyber hookers" hanging out on BBR, for example.... At least none that I've noticed so far. )

chuch
join:2001-04-11
Tampa, FL

chuch

Member

Re: Who decides what pornography is?

Exactly...

Once you start to use the term "porn", you have to define it, and that is something many people can not agree on.

Wasn't there an ISP out there a while back that offered "safe internet"?

The name escapes me, but I remember it was heavily advertised on the radio for a few months.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena

Premium Member

Re: Who decides what pornography is?

Yes, there are still a few ISP's offering "safe internet", but they are mostly using a combination of black lists on the ISP side, and blocking software on the client side that is continuesly updated.

The problem with these ISP's is that they are only about 80% effective, and will not become much more effective. New porn sites are being launched daily, and not only in the U.S. - Porn can still be found using paid usenet services, by using P2P, proxies, etc, etc.

The only real way for a "safe internet" is to block everything by default, and have a "white list" of approved sites that are approved by the ISP. And you will need a few HUNDRED employees working FULL TIME for eternity to add all the new "good" sites to the whitelists.

Not to mention you would actually need quite an impressive database system with expensive computers to actually store the white list. People have no idea how huge the Internet really is....

chuch
join:2001-04-11
Tampa, FL

chuch

Member

Re: Who decides what pornography is?

I agree with the "safe internet" issue...

I did not know if they were still around...Can't even remember the names...