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Free Speech, Porn And Internet Controls
dragons_flight writes: "The US Supreme Court is starting their next session, and on the docket are two cases that pit internet controls vs free speech as applied to porn. The first case will decide whether the government can force online providers to use age verification systems before allowing access to material deemed 'harmful to minors.' The second case deals with whether computer generated imitation porn can be treated with the same laws as porn involving real people (the particular case deals with child pornography). This news article discusses these and other issues before the court. Also ACLU commentary on the upcoming docket." The second of these cases was discussed before, in "Virtual Child Porn: Is It Illegal?"
Using online credit cards for identifying someone's age isn't only unreliable (as you pointed out) but also is not accessible to a large number of Americans.
After high school, I ran up a huge long distance bill calling BBSes across the country. I didn't have the money to pay the bill on time, so an entry was put on my credit report that I had a late payment. As a consequence, it was more than five years later before any credit card company would touch me.
There are a lot of people with low or modest income that have no access to get a credit card, not to mention one of the biggest problems Americans have right now is TOO MUCH DEBT. I think it would be foolish to block so many people from access to content that they are legally allowed to view.
When it comes right down to it, there just isn't a good way to know for sure who is on the other side of the keyboard. And it will cost businesses too much to figure out a way to make sure, so I hope there aren't any stupid decisions by the Fed on this issue.
As for the virtual porn...It's just one step from saying an artistic rendering of a real act is illegal to saying writing about it is illegal...And then from there, who knows? Thinking about it becoming illegally? We don't want to start down that road...
Why are you too embarassed to complain about it?
I've complained to my credit card company about porn sites that I have (way back when, don't do that anymore) checked out with my credit card and then they scammed me. Yes, I look at pornography. Big deal.
Until we get biometrics on every computer there will always be easy ways to get around the age verification issue, but the age verification isn't designed to be foolproof, only provide an easy way to stop most people who might be interested. Just like pirating music or software, if you're determined to look at pornography, you will be able to find it. It doesn't matter how old you are.
The ISP idea won't help either because how many kids use their parents ISP accounts?
If God gave us curiosity
What is a 'virtual child'?
Take manga, for example, or hentai. Most of the characters in most Japanese animation have characteristics that look to westerners child-like. Does that make all sexually explicit manga child pornography? Is this child pornography [warning: explicit]? Should it be banned?
Then, how do you tell by looking at a picture how old the subject is? Sure, yes, you can (almost always) tell the difference between a five year old and a fifty year old, but can you always tell the difference between a fifteen year old and a twenty-five year old, even in real life? If you can't in real life, how can you in drawings?
What about fantasy worlds in which people change ages? Take, for example, Freaky Friday, in which a mother and child exchange bodies for a day. If the 'mother' character (supposedly actually an adult but in a child's body) had had sex, would that be child porn? If the 'daughter' character (supposedly actually a child but in an adult body) had had sex, wouold that be child sex?
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.