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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.
I mean Germany trying to take control beyond its borders... that's sooo twentieth century. Next we're going to here that France is going to "surrender" to this.
Dunno, at least it's not the "we're saving the kids, so you have to fork over your credit card" scam that the U.S. Congress enabled.
I was led to this place, a place I can't understand. A place that demands my belief just as strongly as my disbelie
What difference will this make? Now you can't jerk off until midnight?
Not to mention that this will be practically impossible to implement.
My great fear is that every country in the world is going to pass its own version of a "decency" law, then attempt to require the conformance of every other country in the world. Soon enough, the Internet will have been watered down to contain only that content which is deemed acceptable, world-wide.
One of the great challenges our world faces over the next century is our ability to accept a global Internet/marketplace, and yet maintain some semblance of independent societies, complete with our own mores and values.
The pomposity of the professor is inversely proportional to the difficulty and importance of the subject being taught.
"It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom. Keep that in mind at all times." Bill Hicks
The german parliament should remember to notify all search engines that cache images to shut off access to those images during those hours.
Are these hours affected by daylight savings time? It is important that the German farmers have a chance to get their porn during darkness like the rest of the entire German nation.
If a webserver is put in a balloon and is sent to different timezones where it is always day, should the site still be shut down during German nighttime?
They should also remind German porn kings not to move their sites to a different country.
What happens if the text of the website is educational, and is served from a German server, but there happens to be one picture of a sweet nude lady, but the image is on a foreign server?
These are serious issues that the parliament must deal with from the hours of 9 AM to 11 PM only.
"They didn't call it the Dark Ages because it was dark." -- Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG-1.
The only way they could ever possibly do this is with communist-china-style filters. I could see American/etc porn sites just giving Germany a big fuck you if they try to make them shut down during the day. Porn sites are just far too numerous for Germany to put the kind of pressure on them like France did to Yahoo & (correct be if I'm wrong) ebay.
The English are known for Tea Time, and now the Germans will be known for Porn Time. What a thing to be associated with! Over here in the states, we simply call it "happy time".
---
Siggy, siggy, siggy, can't you see? Sometimes your puns just irritate me.
As far as filtering and time zones go:
The world has twenty-four timezones; if, by some messed up sort of complete world agreement, Germany begot enforcement from other countries would it be enforced on a continual twenty-four basis? Or would everyone need to filter access at their different, local, times (five hours earlier with eastern standard time, etc)?
This is of course all hypothetical as we all know all world countries interested in filtering pr0n will insist on world enforcement of their own, unique, anti-freedom laws. I mean come on, can anyone see the French in agreance with any law that the United States would ever try to persue?
/philosophy
"It's the Law of the Universe, and I'm the sheriff." Slash-cott 2/10-2/17
I read this piece of "NEWS" (ix.de reported this item last week(Use the fish)), and promplty filled my nose with coffee.
To clarify: the main reason for this so called "Sendezeitbegrenzung" from 11 pm to 6am is the childrens protection act. ( Will somebody please think about the children :-)). It seems some of our politicians haven't greeped the fact that Germany isn't the navel of the world anymore.
In essence this new Law the "Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (JMStV)," proposes to extend the youth protection laws allready in place for Radio and TV to the Internet. ( Think FCC for Internet for the North-Americans on /.). So this will be another try, to censor content or to restrict the access to information on the internet. But we all know, how effectfull the earlier tries have been.
I'm sure everybody knews how resourcefull 6-18 year olds can be at getting the po^H^Hinformation one wants.
... whenever a text is transmitted, variation occurs. This is because human beings are careless, fallible, and occasiona
what with time zones being all different and that. however, I have a solution.
We flatten the earth. yup. flatten it. With German industrial ingenuity it shouldn't be a big problem. then we all have roughly the same sunrise and sunset times, therefore allowing germany to restrict opening times in line with other net-opressive nations (Australia - Richard Alston take note)
Of course, how exactly are they going to define "porn", and then how are they going to patrol the net to enforce the whole thing?
It could, of course, be the end to World Unemployment - just give every unemployed person a net connection and ask them to rate porn sites for the German government. SIGN ME UP! I'll quit my job now.
Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
So the bottom line is that the only sites affected would be free-access hard core porn sites. Of course, controlling all this is technically impossible, and the very arising of the idea is due to technically illiterate German politicians. Several of ideas like this were turned down over the past few years when the people who know what they're talking about basically told them that they would be either technically impossible or extremely expensive.
www.germanpr0n.com
.......
login:h0rnyN4zi
password:xxxxx*x
Gutentag!
I am being very sorry, but it is currently only 3:30 PM where you are being located. This is meaning that we are not able to be serving you any pr0n until it is being 11 PM your time. Please, it is still early, so going out and trying to get laid, if you are unable to being laid, you may visit us at 11 PM where we will serving you many a good pr0n!
-- Dan
That's where we Europeans as a whole differ from North Americans; what German TV is showing at night time is not realy concidered porn over here, OK, the label Soft-Porn is often used but say in Holland, Italy or Denmark you could possible air a minute of that stuff at prime time without getting complaints.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
The definition is AFAIK: porn contains images of sexually aroused genitals.
That means: penis bird is porn, biology books are not, I'm not sure if goatse even counts as porn.
The films you saw count as "erotic", the means they show sexual actions but not beaver shots etc.
The main brackground for this fuss is that making porn aviable to minors (below age 18) is illegal in Germany (you might get into prison, no joke). In this sense the time retriction is rather braindead, because the porn sites won't be allowed to show porn to minors anyway (at the whole day).
As you correctly noted, the restriction comes from the TV regulations, where erotic content should be only show after 11 PM. AFAIK there isn't even a clear law for this, because some private TV channels show discussions with sex themes even in the afternoon, but they usually get bashed (only verbal) by the official youth protectors afterwards.
But before you whine all along there is something I must point out: Germany and Europe in general are much more tolerant to these things than the US, what they usually sets off is violence, not porn. I must remind you that the US is a country where "fuck" is beeped out in some US shows. These regulations on the internet for Germany are pretty retarded, but never forget that the US have their own retardness in many other respects.
- Posting AC due to NAZI bitchslapping.
Bypassing the technical/political/legal issues (I think we all agree on the feasibility of this proposition) I believe that it is a good thing if a country limits access to sexual oriented online content in accordence with the law IRL. And as I say in accordance with the law IRL this naturally implies that the law should not have any extraterritorial effects.
If the Germans wish to limit uncontrolled daytime access to sexually oriented content located on servers on German territory they have my blessing.
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.)
Of course all this doesn't invalidate the previous posters comments about other countries' lawmaking abilities in the tech sector...
-- H. Wilker
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
Sometimes I think Babelfish was worth doing, simply for the entertainment value. Let's have a look at a couple doozies from today's article:
OK, that wasn't that funny. Here's a better one:
I think this one sums up the whole article:
Of COURSE it is! And possibly the most interesting:
Dinosaur discussions! Fantastic!!
But my favorites are the conversion of people's names into common words... Some of today's quotes are provided by: "franc walter stone Meier", "peace man Schindler"!
I think the next "All your base..." wave won't come from some Chinese game company's pathetic attempt to translate to English, it will come from Slashdot funneling a million people through the fish... any day now the golden nugget of automated translation will be found!
But I guess I shouldn't make fun of Altavista, since at least they have survived this long... in an industry that rarely "writes black numbers". Heeheee I kill me!
Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people.
The United Nations Human Freedom Index (0 = least freedom, 40 = most freedom):
:)
k 87 (does anyone know where the newer index is?)
Sweden 38
Denmark 38
Netherlands 37
Austria 36
Finland 36
France 35
Germany 35
Canada 34
Switzerland 34
Australia 33
United States 33
Japan 32
United Kingdom 32
Ooops.. looks like Sweden is the best country on earth.. Um the UK.. er.. must have been pulled down because of err Wales.. yeah, if it was just England then we would be right up there. HA HA HA HA the US is crappier than Canada and Germany
Source: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/8Comparison.htm#Bac
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
You also don't seem to realise that when they're talking about pr0n in Germany, they mean hardcore, as in "penetration". There's nekkid tits on all kinds of magazines, on TV ads, on billboards.
Of course the idea is unworkable, as are most politicians' ideas whenever they wat to "protect" people from themselves. This too shall pass. Move along. Nothing to see here.
woof.
Have you ever noticed that when someone wants a restrictive law, it's always a restriction on someone else? The inevitable excuse is always that someone *else* is being "protected". You and I are smart enough and capable enough to take care of ourselvesand our families, but those other people need protection from themselves.
Agreement with protection of children and young people in the Internet
Federation and countries agreed after one year's negotiation on principles for the protection of children and young people in the InterNet. The measures to temporal limitations for youth-endangering contents encounter criticism. On the corner points the bosses of the state and Senatskanzleien of the countries and the boss of the Office of the Federal Chancellor, franc walter stone Meier agreed, on Thursday in Berlin. The paper is present the Financial Times Germany. Basically the countries are to be responsible for the protection of children and young people in the media. The federation reserves itself rights of codetermination. The introduction of a " positive Ratings for harmless supplies " is suggested, which rejects the economy as " vorzensur ". The paper is to become basis for a youth medium protectorate contract (JMStV). On portals such as T-Online on Erotik pages without sufficient acces protection one link, says peace man Schindler of the Mainzer authority protection of children and young people.net. It expects now a stronger printing on the contents contents of to banish references to Sex supplies in the virtual Hinterzimmer.
Not youth-free contents only in certain times
According to the paper youth-free contents might not be made common " or accessible " only between 23 o'clock and 6 o'clock, if no " pre and free check techniques " are installed. Such demands were not practicably called of experts so far. " we can check not all contents in the network ", said Arthur Waldenberger, Vorstand of the freiwilligen self-check Multimedia (FSM). That is in view of billions on the part of " imbecility ". The fact that the self-check is to be subject to a " sovereign certifying " by a " commission for the youth medium protection " is not acceptable " ".
Experts reject sections
Also InterNet experts of the Bundestag factions reject sections of the arrangement. " the youth medium protection is already monastery suited compared with other countries almost in Germany ", says the medium-political speaker of the FDP, Hans Joachim petrol. It is too simply, itself after land woman manners " bigott over the dirt " consumed by million Germans too ereifern. Erotik providers are the only on-line industry, which writes black numbers. Also the SPD wants to put " dinosaur discussions forward over transmitting time delimitations and license obligations " for the InterNet a latch plate, said Joerg Tauss, representative for new media of the SPD. The corner points are not consentable.
Security through promiscuity is no better than security through obscurity.
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.
I am not a fan of porn </understatement>), but folks, this is Germany. Ever been there? i have. I visited several small towns and one moderately large city. Every bookstore and newstand had a large selection of pornographic magazines. In the small town I stayed in, I noted one that featured people in sexual situations in the magazine rack at a toy and school supply store. Think about it - hardcore porn in a store for children in a small town. The newspaper featured frontal nudity most days - sometimes relevant to a story, sometimes not. MTV videos contained nudity.
:)
In short, I think the German politicians (or whoever) that are proposing this can't be taken seriously. I think it would be roughly analagous to US senators declaring that images of people in swimsuits should be outlawed. No one would take them seriously, in the sense that no one would think that it could actually happen. It would be a rhetorical ploy with some other political goal in mind.
P.S. This is why you should travel..so you can spout inane drivel on slashdot and sound like you know what you're talking about
There are also the places that are on 30 minute or even 15 minute boundaries. As well as a few places in the Pacific that shifted their time-zone ahead 23 hours or so to be "first into the new millenium" as a tourist gimick. (Probably ignored at the time, and long forgotten now.) Time zones are good. Railroads used to keep their own time standards for each company -- which meant making a tight connection in Chicago .. interesting.
But to get back on topic, I think the German government needs to hire a child of five to explain the Internet and the concept of "global communications" to them. They've obviously missed their connection with the Clue Train.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
...then what are you doing posting to slashdot?
I'm the stranger...posting to
If I don't have 24x7 access to top quality German porn, then the terrorists have won!
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
There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here.
The article mentioned talks about a proposal to require large german portals (like t-online or freenet) to only link to pr0n sites during the hours specified.
It is not about requiring those sites to only open during these hours.
German politicians (at least most of them) understand quite well that the internet is a international medium that can not be controlled by a single country.
Do not push the red button !
BOTH serve to ensure our survival: Violence "prepares" our warriors, and Sex propogates the genes of the warriors who survived. BOTH are pleasurable, but the former in groups, and the latter privately (for reasons of feared inadequacy and religious indoctrination).
Anyway, the "scientific" reason why porn takes a backseat to violence is because of "Bigger Dick Theory (BDT)." It states that porn embarrasses chicks and pencil dicks, but that violience (and cars!) increases dick length (gun!). :-)
Power to the Peaceful
According to an issue of "Ask Marilyn" that I really wish I had kept, violence is acceptable because "everyone knows it was faked," while sex is not because it's real.
I initially thought she was refering to penetration, which is a bit hard to fake in quality porn, then I remembered that this was a Sunday supplement and she was probably refering to nudity in a mass market movie.
Either way, it begs the question of why anyone would try to equate the reality of violence with sex. Call me crazy, but I actively seek to get laid (the "most extreme" sexual act) most days, but I can't think of the last time I tried to get punched (one of the "least extreme" violent acts). It really makes me wonder about her... yet that's a common perception out in Middle America.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
It's sad how blase we are about our kids watching people get shot, hacked up, beaten & abused on various TV programs, yet let two naked people make love on a television and OH MY GOD WHAT WILL THE CHILDREN THINK!
It's just like everyone shitting themselves over a handful of anthrax deaths when thousands die in their cars on the way to work each morning. Like much else a matter of misplaced priorities and media-hyped threats to our society.
The only tool you've got against psychosis is experience.