Comments on: Princess Bitchface http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/ Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:12:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Amir http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/comment-page-1/#comment-140 Amir Fri, 14 Jul 2006 01:27:22 +0000 http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/#comment-140 One problem with a government banning pornography on the internet is that governments being governments, the definition of 'pornography' could gradually expand. For example, the same laws that would protect the youth from the corruptions of internet porn could easily justify 'protecting' similarily impressionable minds from the dangers of internet religious extremism. I can understand government needing to control access to pornographic magazines and so on, but the internet is an entirely different beast because the thing that is considered a weakness in this context -- the inability to control the millions of sites it houses -- is also a great strength by providing people with access to all sorts of information and ideas that governments might otherwise wish to censor. There are also technical difficulties in filtering pornography because it is naturally very difficult for software to determine what a pornographic image looks like. Instead, they rely on keywords and lists of known pornographic sites. As a result, one will find legitimate sites dealing with issues such as female health or the like will be filtered. Ultimately, I think parents need to take responsibility for what their children view online. Install one of the very good filtering products at home as well. Perhaps, there is an opportunity here for an ISP to offer family-friendly internet connections where subscribers opt to go via a filtering proxy? One problem with a government banning pornography on the internet is that governments being governments, the definition of ‘pornography’ could gradually expand. For example, the same laws that would protect the youth from the corruptions of internet porn could easily justify ‘protecting’ similarily impressionable minds from the dangers of internet religious extremism. I can understand government needing to control access to pornographic magazines and so on, but the internet is an entirely different beast because the thing that is considered a weakness in this context — the inability to control the millions of sites it houses — is also a great strength by providing people with access to all sorts of information and ideas that governments might otherwise wish to censor.

There are also technical difficulties in filtering pornography because it is naturally very difficult for software to determine what a pornographic image looks like. Instead, they rely on keywords and lists of known pornographic sites. As a result, one will find legitimate sites dealing with issues such as female health or the like will be filtered.

Ultimately, I think parents need to take responsibility for what their children view online. Install one of the very good filtering products at home as well.

Perhaps, there is an opportunity here for an ISP to offer family-friendly internet connections where subscribers opt to go via a filtering proxy?

]]> By: Baybers http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/comment-page-1/#comment-138 Baybers Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:09:04 +0000 http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/#comment-138 JZK for your comment. It is a very vexed issue, but I am more inclined to believe the government should enforce a default ban on pornographic websites at the level of an ISP. If people want unfiltered sexual content then they should mark that when they signup for to an ISP contract. Perhaps they should be forced to do it in person, by going to the ISP office where they could go fill out a lengthy form. None of this would constitute "a ban" and freedom lovers would have little complain about, but it would change the interpretation of what is normative behaviour. JZK for your comment.

It is a very vexed issue, but I am more inclined to believe the government should enforce a default ban on pornographic websites at the level of an ISP. If people want unfiltered sexual content then they should mark that when they signup for to an ISP contract.

Perhaps they should be forced to do it in person, by going to the ISP office where they could go fill out a lengthy form. None of this would constitute “a ban” and freedom lovers would have little complain about, but it would change the interpretation of what is normative behaviour.

]]> By: Mohammed http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/comment-page-1/#comment-124 Mohammed Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:11:39 +0000 http://austrolabe.com/2006/07/02/princess-bitchface/#comment-124 I don't believe the Government should enforce adult filters for the Internet. It is an infeasible idea that will serve as a nuisance more than anything else. And, as history has shown, once such a filter is in place, it is open to abuse by over-enthusiastic censors seeking to expand the scope of illegal sites. Every parent is responsible for protecting the innocence of their own children; we shouldn't rely on the Government to raise our children for us. I don’t believe the Government should enforce adult filters for the Internet. It is an infeasible idea that will serve as a nuisance more than anything else. And, as history has shown, once such a filter is in place, it is open to abuse by over-enthusiastic censors seeking to expand the scope of illegal sites.

Every parent is responsible for protecting the innocence of their own children; we shouldn’t rely on the Government to raise our children for us.

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