Food for Thought

[Dustin Decker]

On Tue, 5 Nov 2002, Marvin GodfatherofSoul Bellamy wrote:

> I've always wondered about alternative solutions to the pornography 
> debate.  Make it even simpler, is there a problem with having adult 
> sites return a specific meta tag or a header?  Then, filter content 
> based on the HTTP response.  I've never played with proxy software,  but 
> if this were made law, I don't imagine it would be difficult for 
> software manufacturers to make the change.  Let me know if there are any 
> holes in this idea.

There have been many (failed) attempts to implement a ratings system on 
the Internet.  Arbitrary enforcement would be a requirement 
technologically which in nearly all cases at the browser level can be 
circumvented in some way - doing this closer to the network layer using 
.adult or .pr0n or some such TLD would be a lot easier to filter, but it 
all depends on the implementation.

If Johnny can tell his browser it's OK to accept any rating assigned to 
a site, then it't not much comfort to mom and dad.  If mom and dad are 
capable of ensuring he can't disable stuff, that's groovy I guess.  The 
problem is, Johnny will likely better understand the technology due to 
the digital divide and all that...

Again, using a TLD takes care of it from a legal perspective.  Pr0n
found on any other TLD could be considered in direct violation of law,
and easily prosecuted.  With, of course, the exception of folks who
aren't in the US which decide to provide pr0n via TLD's from other
countries and the like.  Oh have fun trying to prosecute those folks.  
The end result will be all porn peddlers moving their stuff out of the 
country, or continuing to hack the hell out of vulnerable web servers 
thereby leaving some "poor innocent sap" on the hook with the law.

There aren't _easy_ answers to this question - but some are certainly 
more logical than others.
Dustin

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