Slashdot Mirror
Japanese Government to Regulate Online Communication
Chris Salzberg writes "The Japanese government made major moves this month toward legislating extensive regulation over online communication. In a series of little-publicized meetings, two distinct government ministries pushed ahead with regulation in three major areas of online communication: web content, mobile phone access, and file sharing. Content regulation will cover anything on the web, including personal blogs and web pages. Upcoming mandatory filtering of mobile phone access is targeted at users under age 18, and will cover chat rooms, forums, bulletin boards and social networking services. File sharing legislation will initially target illegal downloads, but, according to critics, may ultimately broaden to include streaming media from sites such as YouTube."
Actually this is plain old silly. Not to mention history repeating itself. A prime example of Japan Govt trying to yet again appear "civilized" to the "westerners".
Filter mobile access for under-age kids??? Ha! "Think of the children" is kinda hard to argue against. Except that instead of USA, this is now done in a country that has pedophilia as a national obsession.
Since past 3 months, the area outside Akihabara train station itself in Tokyo is experience a curious phenomenon. Droves of young girls barely 12 or 14, sit in costumes outside, selling their "Sexy and cute" photo albums. They are surrounded by literally hundreds of Japanese men in their late 40s whipping out their cameraphones and cams and clicking pics. And then there is Enjo kosai... the practice of "compensated dating"... basically young schoolgirls having liaisons with middle aged Japanese businessmen for quick pocket money. And then you have this certain prefecture in Japan, that still refuses to make sex with minors an illegal and punishable act. Japanese businessmen regularly flock to the place for a "good time".
If that is not enough, you have to just look at the so called manga magazines. The covers are adorned by near naked child models that are usually 20 or 18 but are clearly sought after because they look almost 14 or 15. Any bets what fantasies, are being catered to? And even that facade is dispensed with, when it comes to actual renditions of female comic characters inside. They are drawn to look like 9 or 10. The younger, the better. Did I mention that this explicit content is sold on the shelves openly, available even to kids? Oh, the more "adult" content magazines (with real photos of sexual acts) are usually sealed, but animation stuff with same content(drawings of explicit sex acts) is considered pretty okay. It is just drawing, you know?
This is where it all becomes a big hypocrisy. Japanese government will have to take care of these more entrenched areas of deeply embedded lolita-complex of the Japanese society, before it even ever begins to pretend to care about protecting minors. The politicians there, are notorious anyways of "thinking of the children" all the time. It is just in a different sense.
Not impressed.