British Government Proposes Universal Ban on Net Porn
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Just once I would like to hear a female politician end an "as a mother" sentence with "I monitor what my children do online/watch on tv/listen to on their mp3 players, and I believe it is the responsibility of all other parents to do the same".
Honestly I don't really care. In fact I could support it in a different world.
What I'm opposed to is the billions of pounds of welfare cuts and the raised student tuition fees.
They take all this money away, and then cut taxes for the rich and put it into something as utterly pointless as this? Why, oh why, did people have to vote Tory?
What I'm opposed to is the billions of pounds of welfare cuts and the raised student tuition fees.
They take all this money away, and then cut taxes for the rich and put it into something as utterly pointless as this? Why, oh why, did people have to vote Tory?
Sure, why not? That way you have to be open with it if you want it. At least it's not an all-out ban on it, just harder to get. Hope it gets passed, and possibly even spread, to be honest.
PS: You guys may wish to get all the porn you can, then.
PS: You guys may wish to get all the porn you can, then.
Such a tricky problem. And the fact is, yes, it is a problem.Andy Chalk said:
It's extraordinarily easy for a kid to accidentally come across pornography online. Foiks, the internet is the dark alley that no parent would ever let their child play in. Saying you can't accidentally find porn is like saying the guys in a submarine couldn't accidentally find water.
But the problem is with the site owners themselves. Generic URLs that lead to full-on pornographic pictures--I remember my little sister typing in her name.com and ending up at a pretty damned awful website for someone of nine. This was years ago, but I'm sure sites like this are still out there.
Advertisements and front-page "samples" on the page are graphic enough without the kid needing to access. The kid just has to be clever enough to bypass a "click Accept to prove you're 18+" page. But even some of the banners that would lead you to that page are graphic enough. But others will fool people, because the job of the ad is to increase "walk-by" traffic--the number of people coming to your site, whether they realize it or not. Some of the biggest sites for putting up porn ads aren't porn sites. They're cheat, hack, torrent, etc., sites. It's a good way to earn a quick advertising buck.
Then, of course, there are the age-old "You can't back out of this!" sites. Or the ones with a million pop-ups. What reason is there for this other than trapping someone there who may not want to be there? The marketing is entirely designed to draw people in and keep them there.
Still, I don't think that an "opt-in system" is the way to go. Instead, there need to be better options for parents to opt out of internet porn. Age verification for sites that "require" it needs to be more rigorous than, "Hey, please don't lie about your age, m'kay?" But how do you do so without getting intrusive?
Really, when it comes right down to it, the choices a parent has are "let him on the internet" or "don't let him on the internet." You can only supervise so much, sitting right over his shoulder. Histories can be cleared, parental controls bypassed.
Would it be such an awful thing for sights that are intended to carry adult-only content to indicate so in their URL? So www.pornstuff.com would become www.pornstuff.xxx or xxx://xxx.pornstuff.xxx. Or something. This way, they can still have whatever they want, and people can still access whatever they want, but if you want to just blanket-block all "xxx prefix" stuff, you could set that up with your ISP. No bypass on your end. No need to "out" yourself as a porn enthusiast. You call and tell them to block it, and they block it.
Meanwhile, these sites voluntarily label themselves with that prefix, showing that they're interested in running a legitimate business that targets customers who are "of age" by reducing accidental "young'n traffic."
Of course, the issue with something like this is the same issue with anything under the "voluntary self-regulation" heading. And the problem is when people don't do it, it often adds credibility to the argument that they have something to gain by not regulating themselves in that way. That opens the door for legislation to do what they won't.
Why are you 'all for not' educating minors on 'titties'. You mean breasts, right?
Why would you lie to children about breasts? Actually, why would you support lying to children about their parents' anatomy and then state that you can't wait for the liars in government office to be dead?
Here's another poser for you. What exactly is wrong with English language cultures that they treat their bodies as abhorrent and only permit exploration of their bodies to 'adults'?
Why would you lie to children about breasts? Actually, why would you support lying to children about their parents' anatomy and then state that you can't wait for the liars in government office to be dead?
Here's another poser for you. What exactly is wrong with English language cultures that they treat their bodies as abhorrent and only permit exploration of their bodies to 'adults'?
Wow.Andy Chalk said:
You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you?
Its the fucking internet. You only managed to regulate TV and cinema and so on because those organisations have recogniseable heads that will get it in the neck if they don't co-operate. No-one has to co-operate on the internet. Everyone can be Anonymous. Sure, you could try to shut down every porn site and porn maker, but more would just spring up in their place.
Have fun with that.
Replace the word "Conservative" with the phrase "every politican ever", and I might agree with you. (Labour was no better).MelasZepheos said:
On topic: This won't work. It'll never work. Porn sites will inevitably work around any blockage, and I'll be more concerned about censorship and/or blocking largely innocent sites (e.g. Tumblr, DevianArt, YouTube, Facebook...)
Yes, in fact people who aim to secure children from what is essentially going to be part of their life later are more hurting them than helping them.Giest4life said:
My brother stumbled upon a Nazi flag in a "how to draw WWII airplanes" book, and instead of lying to him my parents taught him about Hitler and what he had done.
It makes me feel better that he knows rather than having him lied to...
Basically, this.Jamous said:
Also, I don't know the details about english university applications, but if everything does go tits up for you in terms of financing higher education, you might want to consider coming up to Scotland to study. If you have the academic prowess to qualify for Cambridge, you should be able to get into St Andrews, and definitely Edinburgh or Glasgow Uni. The reason I say this because Scottish students automatically get their fees paid by the Government. So the Gov. can afford it, fees have to be kept low, so for example, an Under Grad. degree at Edinburgh costs roughly £3.5K.
So when courses down south start costing six grand and upwards, you could net yourself a bargain up north.
Good luck with your GCSEs/A Levels/OWLS/whatever it is english people sit.
"The idea was the brainchild of Conservative MP Claire Perry, who used the classic "as a mother" line to open her call for greater regulation of the internet. "
As a mother you should be capable of understanding how to deal with your own fucking children, and while we're on the topic of what you are, I thought we were supposed to rely on Conservatives for arguing against the government's unnecessary involvement in people's lives (about the only thing your party's fucking good for I might add)?
Of course, I'm forgetting the walking contradictions that side of the spectrum embraces.
I can't imagine they're going to start funding every foreign student.
The internet is not a child's toy, and yes, this debate probably will be brought back to gaming.
As a mother you should be capable of understanding how to deal with your own fucking children, and while we're on the topic of what you are, I thought we were supposed to rely on Conservatives for arguing against the government's unnecessary involvement in people's lives (about the only thing your party's fucking good for I might add)?
Of course, I'm forgetting the walking contradictions that side of the spectrum embraces.
Isn't that for actual Scots only though?Sun Flash said:Basically, this.Jamous said:
Also, I don't know the details about english university applications, but if everything does go tits up for you in terms of financing higher education, you might want to consider coming up to Scotland to study. If you have the academic prowess to qualify for Cambridge, you should be able to get into St Andrews, and definitely Edinburgh or Glasgow Uni. The reason I say this because Scottish students automatically get their fees paid by the Government. So the Gov. can afford it, fees have to be kept low, so for example, an Under Grad. degree at Edinburgh costs roughly £3.5K.
So when courses down south start costing six grand and upwards, you could net yourself a bargain up north.
Good luck with your GCSEs/A Levels/OWLS/whatever it is english people sit.
I can't imagine they're going to start funding every foreign student.
You want to block things that show us more about things that are going on around the world?voorhees123 said:
The internet is not a child's toy, and yes, this debate probably will be brought back to gaming.
I have been silent on this issue for far too long.Andy Chalk said:
"...censorship through the back door." Teehee
--------------
Seriously, though, I'm not sure why all of these nutjobs want to regulate the internet. Do their small minds not comprehend that censorship cuts *ALL* ways?
Gentlemen grab your pitchforks! How long would it be before people going to the isp's for their porn back end up on some goverment register?
Labour may not have been better at running the country, but it was for entirely different reasons. The Conservatives are only in touch with the upper class elite, and they honestly believe that the country would be better off returning to the social values and norms of the forties and before (I wish I was kidding, but you only have to look at their changes made while in power already)Delusibeta said:
Labour believed in change, which is nice, but they had no idea how to get there. All of their policies can be divided into two camps, quick fixes for the monumental fuck-up the Conservatives left them (anyone remember the poll tax riots?) and long term planning which only took into account the sector in which the long term plan was put into place. They would enact an Education degree without seeing whether it was feasible from a budgetary standpoint, or establish a Foreign Policy doctrine without first checking how it affected the military.
Politics is politics. The principle now is to stay in power as long as you can. After Maggie Thatcher Milk-Snatcher managed ten years, all Tony Blair wanted was to outlast her. He chose his own time to leave, when he should have left earlier to give his party a real chance to elect a new leader for the General Election, but instead he hung about until he had beaten Maggie's record.
I wouldn't say that no politician cares for the people anymore, because there are clearly Old-Labour backbenchers and some up and coming Lib Dems who do care, but they don't understand how the game works, which means that they get crushed by the more experienced players. Clegg might not care about anyone but himself but the Lib Dem's Business Secretary Vince Cable is very uncomfortable with his party's bedmates. Unfortunately, he can do nothing except leave, meaning that one more voice of reason and the people would be gone. It is a lose-lose situation for everyone, but most of all the British public.
hey who do you think is next? Japan is regulating anime (that's not even pornographic) and Britain is regulating porn so I'm pretty sure US is going to regulate something next the question is what?dalek sec said:
A child can open a paper and see tits.It has started the thing i have been shouting about for years government censorship and forced control we are on the edge of a dark time for Britain.We are too scared of our own government and never stand up for our rights so they keep pushing bullshit laws down our throats when will end?.
A country of controlled curfews and mandatory id cards if this carries on.Now do i try and fight it or move.
A country of controlled curfews and mandatory id cards if this carries on.Now do i try and fight it or move.
Andy Chalk said:
I wasn't suggesting either of those things. But it is going to be pretty hard to block every single porn file. Hell, I'm sure British paedophiles could probably find child pornography on the internet if they looked hard enough.BBC News said: