[Lingster]

These clowns are up to their old tricks again – Senators propose labels for adult Web sites:

Operators of Web sites with racy content must label their sites and register in a national directory or be fined, according to a new U.S. Senate proposal that represents the latest effort among politicians to crack down on Internet sex.

The requirements appear in legislation announced Thursday by two Senate Democrats, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Max Baucus of Montana, that they say will "clean up the Internet for children."

The proposal, which the senators describe as a discussion draft, relies on the idea of embedding a new tag–such as <L18>–in all Web pages that the government deems unsuitable for minors. Then future Web browsers used by minors could be configured to reject L18-labeled Web pages.

"We want to keep our kids safe when they're on the Internet," Baucus said in a statement. "Parents and teachers shouldn't worry about their kids when they're on the computer at home or in the classroom. This bill will help keep kids safe and give parents peace of mind."

Needless to say, restrictions like this would close Amaz0ns and many other sites, because a great many site owners don't want to register with the federal government.

[The Muffin man]

More proof politicians don't know how the internet works.

Just because you make a site sign up for "racy content" doesn't mean kids won't find it. And on top of that, how do you dictate the difference between a family friendly website with a forum that got trolled and had porn posted, or a "racy website"?

On top of that, we already HAVE ways added to browsers to keep kids from viewing mature websites.
IT'S PARENTAL CONTROLS.

[FlakBait]

Oh god she heard you complaining!!! RUN RUUUUUUN!!!!!

;D

[cpbell0033944]

More proof politicians don't know how the internet works.

Just because you make a site sign up for "racy content" doesn't mean kids won't find it. And on top of that, how do you dictate the difference between a family friendly website with a forum that got trolled and had porn posted, or a "racy website"?

On top of that, we already HAVE ways added to browsers to keep kids from viewing mature websites.
IT'S PARENTAL CONTROLS.

Precisely – the parental responsibility side of this issue has, as usual, been ignored.

[btx]

No offense Ling, but you don't think REPUBLICANS aren't going to get behind this? Or might have proposed this legislation had they retained control of both houses? That said, it's american prudism at its finest which by the way won't hurt the big boys in the porn industry, but the off the beaten path fetish sites like ours.

BTX

[gblock01]

I have to say, Muffin Man, I agree with you completely. The whole concept is utterly ridiculous, but for more reasons than what you said. Think about what they're trying to do, and then think about what the average child today knows about computers.

The average child is more than just barely computer literate now. Many children actually understand more than most adults, save for those that are specifically trained in using them. I can almost guarantee that any modern child will be able to find a way around these restricted sites without a problem.

After all, if the sites have a browser-based restriction on the sites, then it's a simple matter of just downloading another web browser, something that it quite easy to do.

Also, it is possible to get around the parental controls or these newly restricted sites (if this bill passes). It's just the same as getting to certain websites that public school computers don't let you. You can go to cached sites, which the restrictions sometimes miss, or you can crack the password using any program that allows you to do that. Programs like that aren't hard to come by and are easy to use.

And, like you said Muffin Man, kids will still be able to find their way to these sites. Drinking is illegal for anyone under 21 and smoking is illegal for anyone under 18, but that doesn't stop anyone. Sure, some people get caught, but most don't, no matter how hard they crack down on it.

And there's one last problem with this proposed bill. How will they get every "adult content" website to register? The internet is a vast universe in its own right, and it's still growing. Even if you get some to register, not all of them will. Does anyone have any idea what it would take to search every website for adult content? You could do a Google search or something like that and pull up several hundred million results, but that still wouldn't get them all, since not all of them can be found by that search engine. Even if theycreated a committee,bureau, or some other government agency to monitor these sites, they still wouldn't be able to cover everything. The internet is just too vast.

Honestly, politicians mow adays don't focus on doing things that are smart. They just go with what ideas seem to be what the public wants. They're more concerned about re-election than about what people really need.

[fasola]

I have to say that I agree with you guys, and besides all that's beeen commented, there is another thing to consider. We know that nowadays, most of the web sites and boards that have "adult" od "mature" content are hosted in some weird web server across the world. But leaving that aside, what I'm thinking is, Let's suppose I have a site that fits in that legislation, but I'm not from the US, and my site is hosted in my own country, they can't force me to uphold a law that is not from my country or the country that where the site is hosted.

I personally don't think that any law can control the use of the internet. Insted of this parrents should be encouraged to see and check what sites their sons visit. Adult magazines are sold in newsstands, and supposedly no kid can access them, but I'm sure everybody around here, got at least a glimpse of at least one playboy from your brother/dad/friend/friend's brother etc, and that doesn't mean anybody broke a law.

Besides all the Internet Sex, I'm more concerned a bout the lack of control in the language used on the net, and the access kids have to them.

I have lost my hopes that there is at least one true politician in the world. Everything seems to be let's give them what they want so they are happy, and that way we can do whatever they want.

Just my thoughts

[gblock01]

I have to say that I agree with you guys, and besides all that's beeen commented, there is another thing to consider. We know that nowadays, most of the web sites and boards that have "adult" od "mature" content are hosted in some weird web server across the world. But leaving that aside, what I'm thinking is, Let's suppose I have a site that fits in that legislation, but I'm not from the US, and my site is hosted in my own country, they can't force me to uphold a law that is not from my country or the country that where the site is hosted.

I personally don't think that any law can control the use of the internet. Insted of this parrents should be encouraged to see and check what sites their sons visit. Adult magazines are sold in newsstands, and supposedly no kid can access them, but I'm sure everybody around here, got at least a glimpse of at least one playboy from your brother/dad/friend/friend's brother etc, and that doesn't mean anybody broke a law.

Besides all the Internet Sex, I'm more concerned a bout the lack of control in the language used on the net, and the access kids have to them.

I have lost my hopes that there is at least one true politician in the world. Everything seems to be let's give them what they want so they are happy, and that way we can do whatever they want.

Just my thoughts

You are raising some very good points. I actually can't believe that I hadn't considered this proposal from a global perspective, but, regardless of that, you are absolutely right. US legislation has absolutely no effect on anything from a different country, which means that, even if this bill is passed into law, it really would not make a difference at all. If a website that has such content doesn't want to register with the government or shut down, then they can just switch to a server outside the US.

[AlexG]

Oh god she heard you complaining!!! RUN RUUUUUUN!!!!!

The Hitwoman from the Clintonista Reign of Terror
  – best you do run, else you'll end up like Vince Foster or Ron Brown, six feet under.   😉

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Lingster]

No offense Ling, but you don't think REPUBLICANS aren't going to get behind this? Or might have proposed this legislation had they retained control of both houses? That said, it's american prudism at its finest which by the way won't hurt the big boys in the porn industry, but the off the beaten path fetish sites like ours.

You may recall that we've recently completed 12 years of GOP control of both houses of Congress, during which bills like this did not pass.  In fact, the openness of the contemporary internet is at least partly a result of circumspect and responsible behavior by the GOP leadership in Congress during the first 12 years following the net's transformation into a public mass medium.

There were attempts to pass such a bill but those attempts didn't get far.  Probably this attempt won't get far, either, but it's worth watching.  Regardless, the bill has two sponsors currently and they're both Democrats.

And I call 'em like I see 'em, both ways.

[Author]

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