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Utah Governor Signs Net-Porn Bill
All Names Have Been writes "House bill 260 has been signed into law by Utah's governor. It creates a list of websites that are not 'safe for children' and forces ISPs to block these sites for those who request it.
In addition, content providers who host or create content in Utah for profit must now rate their websites or face 3rd degree felony charges.
A similar law in Pennsylvania was struck down last year." (See this earlier story, too.)
I am personally against this form of censorship (but for some reason I was attacked ceaselessly in the last story on this bill), but it's a logical leap to say that they're outlawing anything.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
The controversial bill (PDF)will require ISPs to block access to websites deemed "harmful to minors" on request. This blacklist will be drawn up by the state's Attorney General.
on request.
ON REQUEST.
This is not going to block every user from playboy.com. It will give people access to a list of websited to filter ON REQUEST.
"requires a service provider to prevent certain access to Internet material harmful to minors, if requested by the consumer;" If requested by the consumer. If you want to surf porn, you still can. What's the problem here? It's just like having people choose whether or not they want to have those kinds of things filtered.
Not only that, but the ISP doesn't even have to do the filtering on their end, nor come up with their own list. The list will be provided by the state AG, and the ISP's obligation can be satisfied by providing free client side software. ISP's with more than 7,500 customers cannot charge for the software, but they can raise prices for all customers to offset their costs.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
So to those who have more familiarity with the region I have two questions.
I'm a "Mormon", or more accurately, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
1) Did this legislation come about as a result of the elders in the church?
Absolutely not. The Church stays strictly out of politics, except where a serious moral issue is involved, and then only the moral at issue is taught, but the vote and the law is up to the members individually.
And 2) Is this basically an accurate summation of Mormon politics?
No. Even among the members of the Church, it is a matter that often brings up discussion (sometimes heated) as to whether or not laws to restrict rights to behave immorally should be made. But this is not Church mandate or policy. It's up to the members.
If so, that seems scary to me. I wouldn't want a society where there is so much homogenity, even if everyone were basically like me.
On the contrary, the Church is only homogenous in that we share certain core beliefs. I'm often amazed at how much variety fits within the Church. I disagree with political and ethical views with many good, active members of the Church that I know. The Church encourages us to seek out answers for ourselves.
In conclusion, be sure to research "the Mormons" using legitimate sources. That means: if you want to know what we "Mormons" believe in, ask a good, practicing Mormon.
Actually, it's not just dildos, but novelty items.
Cities with Bans on Pornography Being Shipped to them
Jacksonville, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cincinnati, Ohio
Memphis, Tennessee
Austin, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Houston, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Waco, Texas
States with Some kind of law
Alabama
Arkansas
Georgia (Novelty Restriction Only)
Kansas (Novelty Restriction Only)
Mississippi
Utah
Texas (Statewide Novelty Restriction)
Zip Codes:
Texas:
76035 thru 76199
Louisiana (Lincoln Parish):
71001
71227
71234
71235
71241
71245
71270
71272
71273
71275
If there are corrections to this list, or whatnot, please respond below.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
The problem is when any group is a vast majority of the population, They start to do funny things. Especially when the defining charactoristic is something that you cannot apply scientific rigor to. This is the problem with 'Utah Mormons" - yes, they do tend to act differently than Mormons outside of Utah/Idaho.
This is why Democracy is a lousy form of government. It's only real asset, is that it takes longer to corrupt than most other forms of government.
And yes, IAA Mormon. Utah is not 'backward' (or advanced..) It just suffers from too much group-think. That it is Mormon group-think is less important.
Laws are horrible moral guides, moral guides make even worse laws.
I'm also LDS, or Mormon.
For example, when the gay marriage proposition was up for vote in California, the Mormon church organized a massive door-to-door campaign to try to deny the gays their right to marry.
Your parent poster said "except where a serious moral issue is involved", which this is.
Being a Democrat in the Mormon church all but seals your prospects of holding influential positions in the organization.
James E. Faust is the 2nd Councelor in the First Presidency, which translates roughly into "3rd in command". He is Democratic.
Apparently you've never sat in an Elder's Quorum meeting when they pass around a petition to stop a race track from being constructed in your town
I have never once been in an Elder's Quorum meeting where they passed around anything like that.
As they say, you learn more about a man from his enemies than his friends.
Unfortunately, enemies often are convinced of the truth of half truths, so they are not good sources of information.
http://pornolizer.org/