Slashdot Mirror
Germany Wants To Put Time Limits On Porn
nappster writes: "According to this article (sorry, it's in German), Germany thinks it can control the Internet, so now it's considering requiring that porn sites restrict their hours to 11pm to 6am. Exactly how they will coerce sites operating outside Germany is not explained, hence the term 'imbecility' that some have used to describe this proposal." Swim through the German with the Fish.
No, I don't think that will happen. That would require every country in the world to bow to every other country's wishes. That will never, ever happen in a million years. Instead, I fear that countries will start fragmenting the Internet by establishing national firewalls or the like. The Internet may become segregated, split into different pieces by the meddling of misguided politicians. That would be unfortunate.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
The world has twenty-four timezones
Actually a few more. Some are centred about longitude which is not a multiple of 15 degrees. (e.g. Afganistan.)
Then come the commercials that get me. They are ubiquitous and leave absolutely nothing to the imagination for what you get calling the 0190 (extra-toll) and 00 (international) telephone numbers. Btw, I know what the original poster means about "perverted", it seems that the qualification to appear as a model on one of these ads is to be anything but normal looking!!!
I don't object to porn on the net because it doesn't interrupt 'normal viewing' you have to click the URL and it is usually clear what you are getting (apart from Goatsex, don't click this one). Well maybe if VA Software get desperate and start some pop-ups in slashdot for extra funding - then we could be worried.
The last point is why restrict the time slots, many kids over the age of 14 have a computer in their room and I don't want to give them another reason to break curfew and stay up late. It is bad enough with them playing computer games until all hours!!!
Moderators Please Note: The above goatsex link is actually on topic for once!!!!
See my journal, I write things there
All of you "...they're just tilting at windmills..." and "...this can never happen..." types need to spend a few minutes thinking about a world in which it already has happened.
The Internet is a human construction. It can be built or rebuilt to suit whatever criteria its builders choose.
The 'Net we are heading for has no anonymity, is zoned on a per-country and per culture basis, has routers blocking every port but 80 (you can use the others, too, for a price) and only allows "approved publishers" to create content.
- The rage in the router world right now is 'intelligent content sensitive blocking' which would allow, for example' your cable ISP to block H.323 packets (voice over IP) unless you've paid for the service.
- Right behind this is the ability to QOS their routers to "encourage" their customers to use preferred services (== companies with which they've formed a partnership) over competitors. (If you don't like your current ISP, but the competitors home page takes 5 minutes to load and doesn't render right, are you going to switch? Surprise, it may have nothing to do how fast the competing ISP is, or how well they've designed their home page.)
- As previous slashdot stories have pointed out, whole countries (like Saudi Arabia) are firewalling off the rest of the world. AOL does this, too, but their 'zone' is paying customers. Products like SurfWatch allow anyone to do this for themselves and those they "represent".
- We've already lost port 25 (SMTP) because of the spammers. Don't kid yourself into believing the ISP were anything but estatic about being able to take that away, for "anti-spamming" reasons, and now charge us extra for our email accounts.
In the new 'Net world, you won't even get onto the internet without "the 'Net" knowing exactly who you are, what you're allowed to access, and who to charge for every piece of content you view. And BTW, they'll also know what you're likely to buy, how much you can afford, and whether they can charge you for it (because you're already hooked) or have to give it to you for free.
(Just to keep ontopic; once they figure out that you prefer tits to ass, they'll charge you for tits, but ass will be free.)
Imagine an internet no bigger than AOL, or MSN. Imagine an Internet ab bland and braindead as broadcast television is today.
You'll be allowed to create your own home page (for a price), but if there's anything contraversial (== not profitable to the 'Nets owner) you won't be allowed to post it.
If you rest on your laurels, confident that it can never happen, you lose your vote in how you want the Internet to be built. It can be built differently, but you'll have to do it yourself.
A new kind of meat designed to appeal to vegetarians.
But people don't mind TV shows on cable, or movies, or web sites, which have some sort of violent content? (Or at least, they don't seem to mind it as much.) Any time during the day, I can turn on the TV and see a man get shot. I can go on the Internet to a mainstream site (like download.com, for example) and download a violent video game. But god forbid my kids get access to porn.
Uh, am I on the only person on the face of the Earth who would rather get laid than shot?
I'm the stranger...posting to