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Supreme Court Rules Against Anti-Porn Law
Saeed al-Sahaf writes "From Fox News/AP, the Supreme Court has ruled that the COPA (Child Online Protection Act), passed in 1998 ostensibly to shield kids from Web porn, is probably an unconstitutional muzzle on free speech. This is not quite like 'striking the law down' because the court simply said a lower court was correct to block the law from taking effect, since it likely violates the First Amendment, and sent the law back to a lower court for trial. The American Civil Liberties Union and other critics of the antipornography law said that it would restrict far too much material that adults may legally see and buy, the court said."
..according to the article, the high court has passed the law back to a lower court for a trial that could give the government a chance to prove the law does not go too far.
The judges contend there may have been important technological advances in the five years since a federal judge blocked the law and that a new trial will allow discussion of what technology, if any, might allow adults to see and buy material that is legal for them while keeping that material out of the hands of children.
So then, any suggestions anyone? What tools are available to safeguard children against web porn?
http://efil.blogspot.com/
Typical liberal court. Thinking only of their legacy, never of the children.
*Unzip.com is no longer a bondage site, though you can see what it was using a site called the "waybackmachine". Be warned.
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
That's because the majority if the right's beliefs have no basis in actual fact. The left however, while not flawless, is more based in fact than the right. So when you get a news report like CNN full of facts it looks like its far left to a guy on the far right. And yes, since non-Fox news tends to lean a tiny bit to the left it doesn't help. They DO select which facts they say and which ones they don't.
Solution? Dont ask me, I don't know! But I think its been pointed out many times that The Daily Show is the least biased reporting, so watch that. Or be like me and don't watch TV and only read news.google.com.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
She's 11 years old. You were too at that age. This is the nature of childhood.
If we lock an infant in a room full of cyanide pills, and it eats one, did the baby die because it was "stupid^Wignorant"? Or because you put it in a harmful situation?
Judging by the moderator reaction to my original post, my viewpoint is not wanted here. I certainly wasn't trying to upset anyone. It may be true, as you point out, that the Internet must be, by nature, a harmful situation, unfit for children, with bear traps and spike pits at every turn. Your viewpoint is certainly valid.
I believe, however, that my viewpoint is valid as well, however many people say that I am "Flamebait^WTroll". They used to say the same sort of thing about Martin Luther King, but like him I believe in my ideals and the consequences they bring. The point is that the Internet is a worldwide public resource, and I don't believe that we must give up on making it safe to use. Yes, this law was hastily written and needed to go.
But what was wrong with waiting for a suitable replacement?
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
woah. miles davis is on /. crazygonuts.
Don't worry - its just stigmata. Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Giving your child access to the internet is like giving them the keys to the car. They can go where they want and do what they want regardless of your desires. You are responsible for anything they do in the car (unless, in a classic American perversion of justice, they are tried as an adult) and similarly, you should be responsible for their conduct on the internet.
The alternate method which needs to be created to keep your kids away from porn - an impossible mission at best - is called filtering software. You cannot be with your children when they are at the store, so the store has to refuse to sell them cigarettes. You can control (to some degree) their access to the internet. They're not likely to look at porn at school or in the library, both places in which they can get in some degree of trouble for it. That leaves the houses of their friends, and home. If you are involved in the lives of your children to an appropriate degree you have some level of control over both of those things.
I do not need to concede anything: This is your responsibility.
Finally, there is no parallel to be drawn between cigarettes in a store and pornography online. You can only draw a parallel between the cigarettes and an actual pornographic magazine because you can't get either for free in a store. In fact, it's illegal for a store to distribute single cigarettes in many places, including California where I live, and when you go to a porn site, the only images you can typically get for free are the teasers. Unless you go to autopr0n and see a whole bunch of those at once, it's really not that much porn.
The bottom line is that parenting is your responsibility.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
We're not talking about Coke vs Pepsi here. We're talking about someone who, if people make the choice, will become the next Commander in Chief, who'll have veto-power over every piece of legislation, who'll appoint the leaders of the most powerful institutions in our nation.
The media has a moral responsibility to inform and to keep our elected officials accountable. I'm saddened how little we see of that these days.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
That tells me a lot. When was the last time you heard NPR discuss the improved economic condition in Iraq?
I can't find the link right now, but there was discusion during on episode of morning edition last week.
Where is the NPR leading story on the propaganda piece Moore just put out with a list of all the factual errors Moore made?
Where are the factual errors? Name one!
That said, I listened to a half a dozen reviews from various NPR contributers last week, and several of them had a negative tone to them.
How about a study that shows that people who watch cable news (not just fox, but fox far worse than others) for their primary news source were far more likely to harbor misconseptions about facts pertaining to the war in Iraq? NPR listeners did much better...
here it is. And here is the original pdf
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
What do you think research says about porn and how it has effected a porn-lovin culture's view of women? Smart people can always justify unhealthy behavior. Porn is fake. It's tricking the brain and the body into thinking that there's intimacy, a sexual connection (something really really good), going down. Is porn good for our culture? C'mon? I think about human history and the defining moments that stand out have everything to do with sacrifice, selfless service, and a consideration for some higher cause that is more important than self. Porn isn't going to cause a complete meltdown in culture, no. But is it a good thing? Be serious. It's similar to smoking in that it makes you feel good even though it's not something the body was naturally wired to do. If you think watching porn and jerking it is the same thing as having good sex, then you might be doing the sex part wrong. Good sex is about someone else. What is better for a person, watching porn or reading a book? OK, watching porn or cleaning out your garage? How about watching porn or taking a nap? Watching porn or taking 20 minutes to think about what you want out of life while staring at your basement wall? People want porn to be OK because it feels good. Mature people, however, understand that nothing of value comes without pain. Even good sex is about putting someone elses desire before our own. Ramble ramble ramble to the touchy-touchers. Heh. 'I'm a better person because of porn!' Nice.
If we all agree on this issue, I wonder why this /. article has turned into a flamefest between freethinkers and religious bible thumpers.
Religion is such a wonderful brainwashing system. I need to start my own religion, where only pretty girls can join and they can only have sex with me because "God" said so. Having sex with any other guys and not having sex with me would be defined as "evil" so that they would feel guilty.
"Morality" for most people is just a bunch of rules that they heard about somewhere. Blind rule-following is not real morality.
We all know that sex (and hence video footage or photos of same) is evil. Why? Because God said so. He should know. He invented it. Since he is The Almighty, maybe he should just completely illiminate sex from mammalian behavior with one Act of God. It would be a miracle. We would be saved!
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Ah! the Christophobe shows through! Listen to yourself "...go molest some young boys, but leave the rest of us alone with your insane laws." This shows you really don't care about others, specifically those 'young boys'.
Actually, it's the euphoria of the ejactulation that triggers the chemical addiction. So, yes it can be a real addiction. The chemicals involved in the brain are not much different from other chemically addictive agents.
The connection to porn is that boys are visually aroused. It can be a static picture or a video clip, the plot or reason has nothing to do with it. They will whack off to Sports Illustrated Swim Suit edition. Definitely no plot there. (Yea, I'm going to spend $70 for a designer thong.) Since porn is a continuum from mild nudity to the most extreme beastiality, all being down with real people, how is an adolescent to draw the line between reality and fantasy? (Humanist forbid we define values and teach them in school!)
So, in the viewing of porn the boy defines an expectation of what sex is like to be enjoyable. But he grows up and gets married and the wife doesn't want to take a load on her face or in her mouth. But all those pictures said that was good sex.
Now he's looking for some 'ho' to do what he wants and brings home HPV. He doesn't have any trouble with it, but his good wife gets it from him and develops cervical cancer.
Long before she even knows she has genital warts (HPV), she gets pregnant and has an extremely painful pregnancy. (But she was lucking to even get pregnant with her HPV as far along as it is.)
But the man is no longer satified with mild porn, he's discoverd all the raunch the internet provides. The old euro beach sites just don't get it up for me like they used to. But that bondage site, no that's exciting. And, my wife now needs a tummy tuck to pull in that extra skin junior stretched out.
Eventually, the wife learns that she has HPV. But how? She's only been with her husband. He finally admits having been unfaithful during that last trip to SuperCON. Their relationship is in tatters, but their baby boy doesn't understand why Daddy isn't around any more and Mommy is always sad.
As junior grows, he visits dad and finds an old Playboy under his bed while dad is in the shower. The cycle starts again.
Are there any victims in this story? This is a typical story heard countless times in counceling sessions as people, realizing the emptiness of there lives, are trying to figure out what to do. They are too proud to admit wrong doing, too selfish to make changes to their lives, but too lonely to like their life as it is. Feeling guilty for the hurt they have caused, but unwilling to humbly seek forgiveness and reconsciliation.
Oh, and junior, he grows up with a man hating mom and know real, good father figure. He finds he is way more comfortable talking to the girls than the boys. In fact he's not even sure what a man is supposed to be. It looks like they are to be hard and mean and careless about others feelings. But, I'm male and need to be a man some day!!! Who will teach me how????
No, you left nuts are to self absorbed to see the victim's of porn. Freedom is power, power requires responsibility. Irresponsibility requires laws, more laws lead to tyranny. Let's view the big picture, not demanding our petty 'rights'. Yell 'FIRE' in a movie theater, then tell me about free speech 'rights'.
> Good article for an addict's-eye view of the problem. Ignore the domain, the only evidence of a christian bend is in
Is in the fact that your only source is a Religious group... Find me a source that is believable. You wouldn't take a site seriously if its sole purpose was to claim thatthe tooth fairy was sending UFOs to torture our anuses, EVEN IF THE ARTCILE ITSELF SOUNDED REASONABLE.
I feel pretty confident that you know that many porn addicts because you go to a support group for addiction, porn or other -- assuming you actually do know them at all.
I didn't say that porn addicts don't exist, BUT THAT IS NO FRIGGIN REASON TO BAN IT. There are people who take everything too far, but just because you lack the willpower to stop, do not claim that no one can. Do not punish the majority for the faults of the minority. Alcohol & cigarettes should not be illegal simply because some people don't know when to stop. No, it isn't as easy as "just stopping." You have to put some effort into it. Such as, say, NOT LOOKING AT ANY MORE FUCKING PORN. You may still jerk off & imagine it, that's harder to stop. In a moment of strength, burn all your dirty mags, cancel your Internet subscription, but don't think that I'm an asshole because you can't take steps to help yourself. I'm addicted to cigarettes, and previously, pot.
> An addict doesn't just view the same things over and over.
That is your reaction, not "an addict's reaction." I quit smoking pot because I realized it was a bad idea for me to smoke it. I did it for a good while, but I never became addicted to other drugs, I never had to get higher because pot was dull -- believe me, after smoking it every day for 6 years straight, it gets dull. I had taken other drugs, but just because they were there & free. Most of them weren't worth the money, but even the "good ones" weren't good enough to get me hooked after a few tries (note: I never injected anything, that's where I drew the line). I did cocaine, maybe 6 times over two years, but I never felt like I HAD to have more (well, at least the next day... As you're coming down, you sure want it). It had psychological effects ON ME. Despite what some will claim, pot can be addictive. I was addicted. HOWEVER, not everyone will react the same way -- not everyone will become addicted. Therefore, I am for decriminalization, and even outright legalization. Just because it's bad for me and enhances my depression, I'm not going to selfishly say that it should be illegal just because I can't handle it. Most people CAN, just like most people can handle porn without raping children.
The point I am leading to is that my addiction to pot came from a preexisting condition -- the depression I had experienced long before I ever smoked pot, or even before I was ever drunk. I believe that your addiction to porn is exacerbated by a previous condition. I'm assuming you have seen psychotherapists, therapists, psychologists, etc to find what disorders you may have? If not, you aren't doing anything to help yourself, why should I try. If you are, great, they can do wonderful things. Don't expect them to do anything, though, the respensibility for kicking an addiction lies squarely on your shoulders.
Tons of people are addicted to online games -- does that mean they should be owtlawed, just because some people don't know when to quit? No. It's the sad truth, but not everyone is going to live a hunkey-dorey life. My life sucks ass, even after quitting the pot, not drinking as much as I used to, and seriously cutting back on the cigarettes. I'm still depressed, but I am not blaming anyone other than myself (and I don't mean the depressive self-abusive way, I mean in a healthy realistic way) for that.
I don't believe the whole "sexual addiction" thing as anything more than an outburst due to repressive laws outlawing sexuality. Humans are meant to breed... a lot. By outlawing any act of sex, they push us back further,