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Senators Call for Universal Internet Filtering

Posted by samzenpus on from the welcome-to-your-new-child-friendly-web dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes "US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children. Their statement came at the end of a Senate hearing in which civil liberties groups were not invited."

4 of 628 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ok, the end of the Internet is here... by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't give 'em that much credit for savvy. Both parties in the states are still pimping for the "moral" voters, and support of a sure-to-die, nearly impossible to implement or pay for measure like this is a great way to get you name attached to a moral agenda without actually having to do anything.

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    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  2. Re:Ok, the end of the Internet is here... by dircha · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Are they completely aware the program won't do one damned thing to solve any problem, but the propose it anyway just so they can put a blurb in their campaign ads about how they protect children."

    Well you don't have to look far, when voting against a measure like this will guarantee that next election cycle your opponent will run a black and white ad with ominous music saying, "Sen. Jim Bob wants to protect the rights of sexual predators to contact your children on the internet!"

    House races especially are dirty like this. This crap happens all the time, I've even seen it in live debates.

    And you want to know the really sad part? A lot of voters eat this stuff up. If you're average Soccer Mom Susie, all of a sudden you're not sure you can trust the candidate anymore, and if you already hated the candidate, well now he or she is the devil himself.

  3. Re:Ok, the end of the Internet is here... by Kadin2048 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Well, consider the people involved. From TFA:

    Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) both argued that Internet was a dangerous place where parents alone will not be able to protect their children. For those not keeping track at home, that's Daniel "1.3%" Inouye* and Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens. Not exactly the two sharpest knives in the drawer, particularly on technology issues. They're both 'zombie politicians,' kept around by their respective constituencies only because their seniority puts them in positions to funnel pork-barrel projects back home.

    * Referring, of course, to Inouye's absolutely dismal record at actually getting anything passed, or for that matter, even supporting anything that gets passed. Of 289 bills he sponsored since Jan 21, 1997, only FOUR have become law. And for that, I think we can all be grateful. (source)
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  4. There's less happening here than it appears by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sens. Stevens and Inyoue had a similar hearing last year. Not much happened.

    This year, they heard fewer witnesses. A summary:

    • Lauren Nelson, "Miss America 2007": "I am here today to ask you to please implement mandatory education on Internet Safety for all of our children."
    • Dr. David Finkelhor, Director, Crimes Against Children Research Center Horton Social Sciences Center, University of New Hampshire: "Online Sex Crimes against Juveniles: Myth and Reality" -- "Our research with youth suggests that giving out personal information is not what puts kids at risk. Nor does having a blog or a personal web site or frequenting My Space. What puts kids in danger for these crimes is being willing to talk about sex online with strangers, and having a pattern of multiple risky activities on the web -- going to sex sites and chat rooms, and interacting with lots of people there."
    • Ernie Allen, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Our mission: to follow the money. This new initiative is the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography. First, we will aggressively seek to identify illegal child pornography sites with method of payment information attached. Then we will work with the credit card industry to identify the merchant bank. Then we will stop the flow of funds to these sites.
    • Christine Jones, General Counsel, GoDaddy: We do use our Universal Terms of Service broadly to cancel privacy when the Go Daddy Abuse Department determines it is being used for ANY improper purpose.

    The witnesses heard are reasonable ones. We used to see a big presence from the religious right at these things, but that's not happening this time. Nobody was asking for much on the legislative front.