Internet Firms Launch New Web Rating System

Jeremi writes: "Salon has a brief article about a new content self-rating system being proposed to Congress in lieu of government-imposed restrictions. I wonder if this is a good thing or bad, and whether or not it will succeed where previous attempts failed?"

Comments

Re:Great idea

[Black Art]

Volentary at the point of a gun.

Most, if not all, of the rating systems mentioned have been imposed out of fear that "if we do not do it, congress will do something worse". (What part of "Congress shall make no law" do they not understand? All of it, judging by their actions.) The implied threat of congresional action has been the driving force for every one of these censorship systems.
The MPAA's ratings were due to congresional hearings. So was the Comics Code. So was the record labels. So was the V-Chip.

Each was an attempt to supress material that some congresscritter did not like. (In violation of the constitution of the US and their oath of office.)

Taking complex material and rendering it into narror catergories of acceptability is what gave us Network television. Hopefully the web will not turn into something that bland and sanitized. Ratings will only accelerate that process.