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The End of Internet Sex?
URL: http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/story/story_2330.html
Berst Alert
Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
ZDNet AnchorDesk
Tuesday, July 21, 1998

The Internet is a hotbed of smut and pornography. It is
a sexual frontier virtually free of regulations and limits.
In the latest example, two virgins supposedly want to
share their "first time" over the Internet. Click for
full story.

But the wild, wild West era may soon be over. How infuriating
that the government wants to solve this problem in a way
that 1) won't work and 2) threatens our freedom of expression.
Ironically, there is a simple, common-sense way to tackle
this issue that -- for some reason -- is being ignored.

Consider these recent signs of a government smut crackdown:

The DOJ is targeting online porn. Time magazine reported
earlier this month that the DOJ wants federal prosecutors
to tackle porn purveyors big and small.

A freelance reporter for National Public Radio was denied
a First Amendment defense  after sending and receiving
child pornography for a story he was working on. Click
for full story.

A sequel to last year's Communications Decency Act is
in the works. Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court already
said the idea is unconstitutional. Click for full story.

A bill requiring libraries and schools to censor Internet
content. The proposed legislation would require libraries,
schools and other organizations receiving federal funds
to use content filters to censor what patrons view.

A bill making it unlawful to distribute to minors. Senate
Bill 1482 would restrict minors' access to harmful materials.
Those caught distributing to minors would face six months
in prison and $50,000 in fines. Protecting minors is a
noble goal, one that we support here at AnchorDesk. But
the American Civil Liberties Union says this particular
plan is dangerous to free speech.

Here's my frustration. As FamilyPC's Robin Raskin advocates,
we could avoid the pornography predicament by imposing
a .xxx domain for adult content. Cities have zoning regulations
for adult businesses. Movies have ratings to protect kids.
The same concept will work on the Web.

Do you see how much easier it would be to enforce this
idea? Current plans are vague and unfairly punish service
providers who unknowingly host pornography. Think about
it. AOL has 12 million members. Can we really hold it
accountable if one of them posts something inappropriate?
Isn't that like holding the phone company responsible
if somebody swears while making a call?

By contrast, it would be relatively simple to enforce
the .xxx domain idea. If you want to host adult content,
you must do so on a .xxx domain, making it simple and
easy for parents and schools to filter out what they don't
want. And making it straightforward to define who is in
violation without restricting freedom of expression.

What's your take on porn? On the role of government in
regulating sex on the Internet? Use the TalkBack button
to let me know. I'll post the best responses beneath this
article. Go to my Berst Alerts forum if you'd like to
talk it over with other AnchorDesk readers. And don't
forget to take today's Quick Poll.





Is an .xxx domain the best solution to the Internet porn
problem?
 Yes, it's a better solution
than others I've heard.
 No, it's not going to
work.
 Undecided



Don't Miss These Previous Berst Alerts...
A New Life for DOS

Y2K Survival Kit
Microsoft's 4-Way Ecommerce Invasion

READ MORE:
 ACLU: Proposal Calls For .xxx Domain Name - Internet
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.aclu.org/news/w092997b.html
 The Feds Are Aiming to Clean Up Cyberspace - Internet
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/article/0,1344,13923,00.html
 Battle Over Filters Heats Up - ZDNN
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_smgraph_display/0,3441,2119912,00.html
 Logging onto the World's Oldest Profession - ZDTV
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cda/index/0,2073,2119433-2111304,00.html

EVALUATE:
 InternetUser: The Ultimate Net Resource - ZDNet
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.zdnet.com/products/internetuser.html

SUBSCRIBE:
 Get AnchorDesk's email summary in your inbox! - ZDNet AnchorDesk
 http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/whoiswe/subscribe.html

DISCUSS:
 Jesse's Berst Alerts
  http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/disgroups/disgroups_54.html

TOPICS:
 Internet
  http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/topics/topics_18.html
 Computer Issues and Futures
  http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/topics/topics_21.html

TALKBACK:
 Chris  McAdoo
  As an adult site owner I would gladly change my domain to .xxx
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111588.html
 David P. McIntosh, Sr.
  Give me a break
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111594.html
 Rad Keener
  Define "adult"
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111477.html
 Glenn Garman
  The real reason politicians don't want .XXX...?
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111482.html
 Terry Bassett
  Tell Congress!
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111486.html
 Morgan Sheridan
  Not my responsibility to protect kids
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111487.html
 John Russell
  Don't kid yourself
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111488.html
 robert francis
  A reluctant... "yes"
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111490.html
 Walter Piper
  What's the definition??
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111491.html
 Jan Faber
  Internationally, .XXX is in eye of beholder
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111494.html
 John Hamilton
  Jesse, you amaze me as you become dumber and dumber over time
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111522.html
 Curt Oien
  Kids who want to see this kind of stuff will always be able to get it
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111546.html
 Homer J. Rood
  Like it or not pornography is as addicting as alcohol
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111548.html
 Joel Bennett
  But how does that help AOL?
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111549.html
 Betty Lehman
  A manure pile is usually located downwind from habitation
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111554.html
 Rusty Huffman
  Bad idea
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111587.html
 Greg Edwards
  Pornography is not 'free speech'
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111589.html
 J-Francois Dufresne
  What about sex sites outside USA?
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111592.html
 Brian Morgan
  It  is the best I've seen yet. How simply cut and dry.
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111619.html
 Sean Mulhern
  Great idea
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111621.html
 John Whitfield
  It would be better to include a flag at the file leve
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111635.html
 Randy Kreisel
   I do not actually believe pornography is a First Amendment right
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111636.html
 Wayne Deese
  This is an impossible quest
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111637.html
 Mike Neph
  Who defines what goes under the .xxx domain?
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111639.html
 Leslie Boeckler
  Censorship will have to be at the user end, not the host end
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111641.html
 Jim Huggins
  Terribly hard to enforce
   http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/talkback/talkback_111643.html
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