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UK Bill Again Demands Web Pornography Ban

nk497 writes "A new bill presented to the House of Lords demands both ISPs and device makers filter adult content. The Online Safety Bill, raised in the Lords by Baroness Howe of Ildicote, asks for ISPs and mobile operators to 'provide a service that excludes pornographic images' and for device makers to include ways to filter content at the point of purchase. The Bill follows efforts by one MP to make users "opt in" to access pornography, and comes despite ISPs already agreeing to offer all customers parental control software. However, as a Private Members Bill, it doesn't have the backing of the Government, so is less likely to actually be passed."

230 comments

  1. What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, I can't understand you US and UK people. Pornography is nice. It's one of the basic human instincts. Why do you want to deny it? Are you jealous when other people look sexier than you? Still, I can bet that 99.99% of you wank. And did so as teen too. Stop being so fucking jealous.

    1. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Interesting

      To be fair to the US and UK people, most of them probably don't want this bill to pass either and every other country in the world has prude powermaniacs in political office as well. You just read more about it because both countries speak the same language as this website.

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    2. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by SteveTheNewbie · · Score: 2

      Seriously ? have you not heard of Samantha Brick ? it seems they are.

    3. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Avoiderman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not all Uk people. Certainly a wanker here :)

      I really don't think is is even the majority in UK - cdertainly not the majority that I speak with. But it does appear to be a repeated obsession with a small but influential group of (mostly) chrisitan influential groups.

      My interpretation is that Christianity never really made its peace with sexuality, like more natural religions, from the strange inheretence path of the greek cult of virginity into what was originally a Jewish sect.

      I also believe strongly that those argueing for censorship here are missing the real dangers. The internet is public space and should be treated as such. If you are not yet ready to allow your child alone in public space and talking to strangers, don't let them access the internet alone and unmonitored. There are actually worse dangers for children than finding images on the internet, such as predatory grooming, that no amount of filtering will prevent.

    4. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We had some fairly good posts on this in the 'Egypt pornography ban' story earlier today. The general consensus (I think) is that it is a threat to the kind of compulsory, loveless marriages that are common accomplices to conservative values. It's not anyone's fault; merely an unfortunate equilibrium that built up over time. Personally, I'm still waiting for the complementary ban on Harlequin Romance novels.

      ...and sarcastically: escapism is clearly an unacceptable coping mechanism for a bad relationship that you're duty-bound to maintain by a bundle of two-thousand-year-old fairy tales and comic books.

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling. It's enough to make me think that a concerted effort to reduce violence in the media might help clean up how sexuality is perceived by the people currently trying to oppress it.

      --
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    5. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do know this is OPTIONAL right? That it's basically forcing ISPs to have Parental controls.

      Granted, it's a likely first step towards a blanket system of Site denial. I can see the next step after this is File Sharing site denial for those convicted or suspected of copyright infringement, rather than cut off their internet entirely. A less harsh but still fucking stupid version of the 3-strikes idea.

      Then after that, once it's engrained in the populace that blocking sites is natural, we'll see alot of stealth blocks going on.

    6. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by FrootLoops · · Score: 2

      Seriously, I can't understand you US and UK people.

      US person here.

      Are you jealous when other people look sexier than you?

      Hmm, I suppose a little? Mostly I'm just thinking, "wow, he's hot" and firing up my own imagination.

      Still, I can bet that 99.99% of you wank.

      Yup, just did a few minutes ago, to *gasp* gay porn even.

      And did so as teen too.

      Also yup.

      Stop being so fucking jealous.

      Hah, will do.

      I have basically nothing against the porn I see. The guys know what they're doing, are of age, typically get paid--even going gay-for-pay is their own choice, so that's fine. Dangerous practices like barebacking (anal sex with no condom) start to trip my sense of "that's wrong" and I typically avoid depictions of them. Child porn is a definite "no", though actually I'm alright with a guy wanking to non-exploitative pictures of children so long as he doesn't do anything harmful to an actual person. If someone is somehow forced into making porn that's also a definite "no". My view is certainly skewed towards the types of porn I like and might be substantially incomplete. For instance, I don't know enough about straight porn to really have an opinion there, though I imagine it's similar.

      I have no particularly extreme fetishes, so I don't really know how I feel about apparently controversial things like fisting (inserting a fist into an anus), pissing (on your partner), (gay) incest, bondage, etc. As a rule, so long as the people involved aren't being exploited in some way and nobody's getting hurt in any way they don't want, I'm fine with it (porn or other). Child porn is the only type I can think of that I support being illegal. Mandatory default filtering seems extremely problematic and simply not worthwhile--just watch your damn kids already, accept that they're sexual beings starting around puberty, and stop treating sex as inherently dirty. I don't really care what your holy book says in this regard since your kids are real and blindly applying ancient wisdom can really screw real people up.

      In the US we unfortunately have a very vocal segment of extreme right-wing nutjobs (that's the technical term). They feel entitled to speak their mind because of a long tradition of protected speech, and so they do. Most of us ignore them, though there's no denying they have a large audience of willing idiots. I take a little comfort in the fact that many of them are getting old and will hopefully die soon (eg. Rush Limbaugh is 61; Pat Robertson is 82). Unfortunately up-and-comers like Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin are pretty young, so I dunno how things will work out.

    7. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by FrootLoops · · Score: 2

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling.

      Actually no, and now I'm curious. Perhaps it's just the porn I tend to see (gay; no extreme fetishes), but the most violent thing I can recall is some very minor choking--really more like throat-grabbing. I read a story a few months ago about extremely violent (straight) porn that was the subject of an obscenity trial, but I figured it was a negligible minority situation. I dunno if there's a big gay/straight divide here or if I'm just out of the loop.

    8. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by CrackedButter · · Score: 3, Funny

      The Romans were onto something when they were sending christians to their deaths. Maybe christians were trying to cock block back then as well, but the government took a different approach?

    9. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by FrootLoops · · Score: 5, Informative

      You do know this is OPTIONAL right?

      Actually, no. The summary should have been clearer, but from the bill itself,

      ... they must ensure this service excludes pornographic images unless all the conditions of subsection (3) have been fulfilled.

      (3) The conditions are—
              (a) the subscriber opts-in to subscribe to a service that includes pornographic images;
              (b) the subscriber is aged 18 or over; and
              (c) the provider of the service has an age verification policy which has been used to confirm that the subscriber is aged 18 or over.

      From (3a), the filtering is on by default and requires an opt-in to disable it, along with age verification.

    10. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      "It's one of the basic human instincts. "

      You must be trolling

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    11. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by rainmouse · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My interpretation is that Christianity never really made its peace with sexuality, like more natural religions, from the strange inheretence path of the greek cult of virginity into what was originally a Jewish sect.

      There are many scaremongering documentaries and news articles being spewed out about the dangers of porn to teenagers such as this. While I cant argue if there is truth to their claims or not, the real issue seems to be a lack of sex education at school, I certainly don't remember any. Perhaps there is something to your theory about religion, over the years, continually interfering with this process.

    12. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      coping mechanism for a bad relationship that you're duty-bound to maintain by a bundle of two-thousand-year-old fairy tales and comic books

      AFAIK at least the catholic church "allows" (recognizes as religiously valid) up to three marriages. The problem lies with people (and media) that need a new scandal to talk about every other day and attack anything that "qualifies" like a pack of starved wolfs.

    13. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Pieroxy · · Score: 2

      every other country in the world has prude powermaniacs in political office as well.

      You should look up Ilona Staller on wikipedia. And Silvio Berlusconi is also a good read. Not every country is as you seem to think it is.

    14. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by santosh.k83 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We had some fairly good posts on this in the 'Egypt pornography ban' story earlier today. The general consensus (I think) is that it is a threat to the kind of compulsory, loveless marriages that are common accomplices to conservative values. It's not anyone's fault; merely an unfortunate equilibrium that built up over time. Personally, I'm still waiting for the complementary ban on Harlequin Romance novels.

      ...and sarcastically: escapism is clearly an unacceptable coping mechanism for a bad relationship that you're duty-bound to maintain by a bundle of two-thousand-year-old fairy tales and comic books.

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling. It's enough to make me think that a concerted effort to reduce violence in the media might help clean up how sexuality is perceived by the people currently trying to oppress it.

      Huh. Love has been hyped up far more than it is in reality. There's a vast gulf between marriages were the couple aren't romantically set on fire by each other (but which work very well nonetheless) and abusive and destructive relationships. It takes all kinds to make this world apparently. I think both rigidly orthodox, conservative societies (which tend to produce insecure, reactionary people as this House member being discussed) and amoral libertarians represent two extremes of the spectrum, and a middle-ground of a healthy society exemplified by "all for one and one for all" is the ideal we should aim for.

      Like every other Internet user, having been exposed to all kinds of pornography, I'm now heartily sick of it and realise one ounce of a real relationship (no matter how imperfect it may be, as long as mutual respect is present) is worth tons of worthless fantasy. "Make love, not war" is excellent, but it's sad how it has been slowly transformed into "Make sex, not love."

    15. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would argue that there's an awful lot more evidence that exposing children to religion is much more dangerous than exposing them to pornography. So, why isn't anyone trying to pass a bill to ban religion?

    16. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Does their inclusion in Italian goverment negate the posibility of other politicians in the same government being prude powermaniacs?

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    17. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How in all fuck did this POS comment get modded up? Fuck you mods.

    18. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does that mediocre-looking woman have to do with pr0n?

      Who is they and what do they seem to be?

    19. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't quantify, or claim it's what GP was talking about, but look at porn for fetishes like micro/macrophilia, crush, vore, peril (at least I believe that's what it's called), abduction, rape, and the various ones based entirely around degrading/dehumanizing people or specific people. It's pretty fucked up, but nothing to get self-righteous over.

    20. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm circumsized and I wank all the time.

    21. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Evtim · · Score: 4, Interesting

      US and UK are mostly protestant, right? So is the Netherlands. Do I need say more...it's about culture, no so much about religion. Though I certainly think that from all popular religions Christianity has it very wrong when it comes to sexuality....

    22. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Kjella · · Score: 5, Informative

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling.

      Yes and no, the market for porn is getting completely saturated. If you just want amateur porn there's tons on xHamster and RedTube and PornHub. If you want professional porn then HD only made the porn skanks go away, there's plenty girls that look stunning in 1080p. For $10/month you can get 100-200 GB of new "mainstream" porn in 30 categories each month at Brazzers (not affiliated, just to take an example). If you just want to download there's enormous siterips with more porn than you could ever get around to watching. If you're not adding anything unique to the pool, then your standard porn flick adds about 0.02$ of value.

      Because of that, sites specialize. If you want just erotic pictures go to Met-Art. If you want porn but still stylish go to X-Art. If you want movie with a story get movies like Pirates,. Pirates II, The 8th Day and many more. If you have a fetish, there's probably a site dedicated to you, whether it's redheads or girls with glasses or interracial or midgets or bukkake, hell there's probably one for redhead midgets with glasses doing interracial bukkake too. Obviously somebody is going to try out just how far you can take pain/violence/BDSM too, but it's not going mainstream. They just have to make it more extreme to provide something new, like giving an addict an even stronger drug to get a new kick.

      I suspect that in not that long these niches will start to saturate too, that yes we've now done pretty much everything imaginable while having sex and there's tons of videos out there already. Here in Norway some production companies did Norwegian porn for a few years when they lifted the ban like 2004-2008, today they're all shut down. Not because of legal or political reasons but simply because there's so much free porn the niche "Norwegian porn" no longer is a viable business. Not that I'm doing anything silly like predicting the death of the porn industry, but I think it'll be in decline for some time.

      --
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    23. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling.

      Actually no, and now I'm curious. Perhaps it's just the porn I tend to see (gay; no extreme fetishes), but the most violent thing I can recall is some very minor choking--really more like throat-grabbing. I read a story a few months ago about extremely violent (straight) porn that was the subject of an obscenity trial, but I figured it was a negligible minority situation. I dunno if there's a big gay/straight divide here or if I'm just out of the loop.

      I've got plenty or 'regular' porn and can't describe anything more violent than you. Maybe it all depends what you put in the search bar.

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    24. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For most of the above, the UK certainly has laws in place to prevent people exploited in the creation of it - it therefore mostly gets distributed in the form of stories/fiction and artwork rather than real people.

    25. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by MrHanky · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's a bit funny that the persecution of the early Christians get so much attention (any attention at all really), considering that it's only a couple of hundred years compared to the Christian persecution of all other religions and non-religions the following 1700 years.

    26. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by SteveTheNewbie · · Score: 1

      I was responding to the part of the post "Are you jealous when other people look sexier than you?"

      Hopefully that should answer all your questions.

    27. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by siddesu · · Score: 2

      Anonymous Coward looks a lot sexier than that woman looked when she was 31.

    28. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by humanrev · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Pornography is nice. It's one of the basic human instincts.

      Yes, but unfortunately the pornographic industry is rather, well, scummy and sleazy. Oh sure they've got their rules and regulations and try to keep their performers clean, but it is known to be an industry which will take the young and pretty and squeeze the life out of them, progressively making them do worse and worse things if they want to continue being a part of the industry and, ultimately, finding themselves worn out and undesirable and with significant problems once they leave and try to get a real career.

      Having said that, like most people I'm aware of this but am able to compartmentalize things, so it doesn't bother me enough to not look at porn.

      --
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    29. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by digitig · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not all Uk people. Certainly a wanker here :)

      I really don't think is is even the majority in UK - cdertainly not the majority that I speak with. But it does appear to be a repeated obsession with a small but influential group of (mostly) chrisitan influential groups.

      There's also a strong feminist element in the opposition to porn, and with Baroness Howe's background in the Equal Opportunities Commission I suspect that's where she's coming from. I can see the sense in that as far as some porn goes -- some does seem to carry a message of oppression and abuse of women. But most of the stuff I've seen just carries the message that some people enjoy sex with each other (ok, with perhaps a bit more interest in facials than I've experienced in real life, but that seems to be just so the camera has something to shoot). Have I been sheltered in the porn I've seen?

      --
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    30. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by digitig · · Score: 2

      Personally, I'm still waiting for the complementary ban on Harlequin Romance novels.

      Glad to see that this has been modded up; I've already posted on this topic so I couldn't do it.

      --
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    31. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by digitig · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up.

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    32. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by digitig · · Score: 1

      Still, I can bet that 99.99% of you wank.

      Yup, just did a few minutes ago, to *gasp* gay porn even.

      Probably obligatory Avenue Q link.

      --
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    33. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1

      Sex is bad, don't you know? It must be hidden from view, and especially from chil^H^H^H^Hanyone under the age of 18, whose moral backbone will be undermined by it.

      --
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    34. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by hlavac · · Score: 1

      Thats what you get when you push ISPs as "content providers" instead of commoditized content agnostic neutral transport service. Imagine your electricity provider having to police your use of electricity consuming devices, because, you know, one of them could be a computer capable of showing a pr0n... And the best part is, they always insist on ISPs doing it on their own expense. It's always easy to spend someone else's money... Let the sheep opress themselves with their own work! Brilliant isn't it?

    35. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The internet is really really great!
      FOR PORN!!!!

    36. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by misexistentialist · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well sometimes actresses are manhandled rather cruelly, but there are also sites that only produce videos of women sodomizing men with gigantic strap-ons or kicking them in the balls repeatedly. In general women don't like sex work because it reduces the amount of attention and money they can get out of men. Modern feminism just another excuse and cover for the lust for control and money.

    37. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Pieroxy · · Score: 2

      There are not many governments in southern Europe that would spontaneously generate such a bill. That was my point.

      From time to time you can find a prude powermaniac somewhere in the sphere of power but not generally, no. In France for example, there has never been someone in the government that displayed this kind of prude behavior. At the opposite, people go fuck around pretty casually - including our three previous presidents - and no one takes offense.

      The level of puritanism in the US and UK has no equivalent in southern Europe. For example, the whole fuss following after Janet's boob at the super bowl 2004 is something unthinkable over here. Unthinkable. Really.

    38. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obligatory Absolutely Fabulous quote:

      How can you say it's degrading to women? She's the one with the whip! - Patsy Stone

    39. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by wisnoskij · · Score: 2

      Protestantism is not a culture, but a religion (specifically a offshoot of Catholicism)...
      Religion permeates culture, but is still a religion.

      --
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    40. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's another industry in the US very similar to that. They talk about keeping the performers off drugs, but in reality there's a lot of pressure to perform, and the regulators often turn a blind eye to abuses. Young kids are encouraged to beat themselves to hamburger trying to break in, even though most of them will never have any significant success. The ones that do can look forward to good pay for years of physical punishment that's likely to leave them infirm. People have suffered brain damage and even been crippled. And since the money flows so freely, many of them never learn to manage their finances and they end up poor with few other career prospects. This industry is called 'pretty much every professional sport.' Porn is probably more sexist, but I'm not sure it does as much harm as the NFL.

    41. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by qwak23 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      At the same time, I'm amazed at just how many people are flat out opposed to anything they deem as pornographic in the US. The current class I'm taking on-line (some BS MS Office class my school requires) includes a weekly discussion about technology and the Internet.

      The subject of internet regulation came up. Did we have a good discussion on things like net neutrality, IP, and other similar issues? No, every single response was a think of the children OMG porn is icky and wrong and should be banned and anything perverted and icky OMG.

      The school I'm attending (actual regionally accredited public university) specializes in Adult Learning and distance education, the average age of people in the class is probably low 30's with a range of 19 - 50something. This class heavily weights participation in the final grade and I'm having a really hard time participating =/

    42. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is exactly what he just said.

      Both countries have primarily similar relogio9ns, but the Netherlands is far more lax about the issues in question.

    43. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by aztrailerpunk · · Score: 2

      History is written by the victor. No matter how prude and overbearing they may be.

      --
      Foot placed squarely in mouth since 1983.
    44. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 1

      I expect that the gender demographic breakdown would be more enlightening than the age demographics. Sexual positivism has been one of the main fracturing points for feminism for decades.

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    45. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2

      The underlying question to that is why is voluntary degradation anybody's business? I have an incredibly wide taste in kink, and depending on mood I can easily be into degradation of either gender, both, or neither. Having some fantasy for half an hour doesn't turn one into a sociopathic bigot.

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    46. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by qwak23 · · Score: 1

      The class is roughly 50/50 male/female. Otherwise I would have included that as well =)

    47. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Tharsman · · Score: 1

      The summary was clear. But this is Slashdot, where people don’t even read the summary, they just rant over misleading headlines!

      BTW, Google already has a "safe search" feature that is turned on by default. Although things still sneak in, the site does exactly the behavior UK seems to wish ISPs implement.

      To be honest, it even makes sense. No matter how attentive we wish parents were, there are too many "safe" sites that get trolled with very very nasty links, and a child's mind should not be scared by accidents or by stupid parents that don't know how to turn on parental features.

      The only reason I see we should oppose this is the ISP burden. I am not sure how high of an economic burden it would be on the ISP to filter all traffic, nor how big of a penalty would they suffer if they were to let slide some photo into the view of a religious zealot.

      It would make it harder and harder for competition to grow and likely lead to a small group of moguls with deep pockets as the only ones able to afford offering internet services, effectively also controlling what the internet is.

      It’s the only reason I can think off, but it’s a huge reason.

    48. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Pf0tzenpfritz · · Score: 0

      So much attention from the wrong perspective that is. What the Romans feared most of all was a christian pontifex - for good reason. As soon as the pontifex' throne and the roman religio fell, the empire and the Roman Peace were past. 2000 years of darkness, hatred and religious wars followed and are still going on.

      --
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    49. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by LordLimecat · · Score: 2

      My interpretation is that Christianity never really made its peace with sexuality, like more natural religions, from the strange inheretence path of the greek cult of virginity into what was originally a Jewish sect.

      Its kind of hard to reconcile that statement with the inclusion of the Song of Songs in the Bible.

      An excerpt:

      Awake, north wind,
            and come, south wind!
      Blow on my garden,
            that its fragrance may spread everywhere.
      Let my beloved come into his garden
            and taste its choice fruits.

      What do you suppose is being referenced here? Do you think that "garden" might be a metaphor for something?

      So much for the Bible not making peace with sex; it simply has trouble with the idea of "free, unrestrained, sexuality". Its kind of like how theres nothing wrong with eating dinner, and lots wrong with spending your entire life devoted to food.

    50. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Somehow I imagine if your comment had been about Jews and the Holocaust you would not have been modded funny. But somehow because the "genocide" was directed at Christians and not Jews, its ok to mock?

    51. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Wilf_Brim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is a nice example of the perception in class that one must maintain solidarity with what is thought to be the mainstream of thought in the class/university. In this case, the perception is that if one doesn't consider pr0n to be a) demeaning to women b) distasteful c) only consumed by the uneducated underclasses d) THINK OF THE CHILDREN (registered trademark Hillary Clinton, circa 1994) e) all of the above then you are a total neanderthal and should be expelled from the university and have your photo posted on a billboard outside of campus emblazoned with the caption: "PEDOPHILE" The reality is that if you got them out of the classroom and got a few drinks in them, they would admit they like some form of what His Lordship in TFA would refer to as "pornography". They just won't admit it.

    52. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by CrackedButter · · Score: 2

      I wasn't even trying to be funny. Slashdot is still a strange place after all these years. Maybe it has something to do with how both religions conduct themselves in the US. Maybe those not of an affiliation despise Christians because they present themselves in an entirely fear mongering hysterical way, while Jews just get on with life.

      Please note everybody I'm generalising and discussing those denominations mentioned above, in the US only. It's a different ball game entirely outside the US.

    53. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      If it's all consensual, then I couldn't care less. It's like a story or a video game: it's not real.

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    54. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      amoral libertarians

      Amoral about what?

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    55. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 2

      BTW, Google already has a "safe search" feature that is turned on by default.

      Google's search engine isn't an ISP.

      No matter how attentive we wish parents were, there are too many "safe" sites that get trolled with very very nasty links, and a child's mind should not be scared by accidents or by stupid parents that don't know how to turn on parental features.

      Don't worry. Even if a child sees such things, I don't think they'll turn into scared little rapists. In fact, they'll probably be 100% fine unless something was wrong with them before. I honestly don't see the problem, and I don't see the need for opt-out filters. If this paranoid garbage should exist at all, I think it should be opt-in.

      In the end, it'll likely just end up annoying people who want to view pornography (they'll have to waste their time opting-in) and children will remain the same as they were previously.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    56. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by lexsird · · Score: 1

      No, you give them far too much credit. To want to remain in solidarity with the mainstream thought would require just that, some thought.

      --
      Take the Red Pill.
    57. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by digitig · · Score: 1

      It's other people's business if they believe that the voluntary degradation is liable to spread to non-voluntary degradation. I think that women have genuine cause for concern about some porn. But "genuine cause for concern" is not the same as "grounds for a ban", of course.

      --
      Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
    58. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by lexsird · · Score: 1

      Nothing like a class like that to elegantly illustrate how damn ignorant people in general are. I have been in similar situations in certain classes where you feel like a damned alien from space. Some people just need governed, for their own good. I know that sounds horrible, but it's true. You don't let mentally handicapped people fly jumbo jets into major metropolises, nor should you let some people lose in life without putting them on a leash.

      Face it, we are heading towards Idiocracy at an alarming pace.

      --
      Take the Red Pill.
    59. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by errandum · · Score: 1

      I disagree, I don't think they are more or less pure, they are just a lot more vocal and seem to feel entitled to push their view onto other people. Most countries won't allow any kind of radical thinking anywhere near power, but the US and UK political system and media do, so, you hear about these freaks a lot more there.

    60. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I can see the sense in that as far as some porn goes -- some does seem to carry a message of oppression and abuse of women. But most of the stuff I've seen just carries the message that some people enjoy sex with each other

      Do keep in mind that many woman actually like perceived oppression and "abuse" of them during sex, at least sometimes. With a loving person, but it is still one the most widespread fantasies women have. I've actually had girlfriends who have complained that I should sometimes just take them roughly and fuck their brains out, even if they resist it a little. It's a very common fantasy, and it makes them very aroused.

      (and no, that doesn't mean you should do this to random people on street :-)

    61. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 1

      [...] liable to spread to non-voluntary degradation.

      As my wife says, always with due sarcasm, 'crime should be illegal.' There are already plenty of laws to deal with harassments, assaults, rapes, etc. for those maladjusted enough to make the choice to abuse others. Blaming environment for bad choices is something I will never accept. At its core is the same sort of mindset that would excuse atrocities committed in simple avoidance of socio-political dangers/backlash.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    62. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Somehow I imagine if your comment had been about Jews and the Holocaust you would not have been modded funny. But somehow because the "genocide" was directed at Christians and not Jews, its ok to mock?

      Yeah, pretty much. It's the same reason it's ok to make fun of white people. They are clearly still dominant and therefore legitimate targets.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    63. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Tharsman · · Score: 1

      Google's search engine isn't an ISP.

      Irrelevant to the matter of "opt-in". Dont ignore the rest of the post where I did address how this is a burden for ISPs.

      Don't worry. Even if a child sees such things, I don't think they'll turn into scared little rapists. In fact, they'll probably be 100% fine unless something was wrong with them before. I honestly don't see the problem...

      I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.

      In the end, it'll likely just end up annoying people who want to view pornography (they'll have to waste their time opting-in) and children will remain the same as they were previously.

      Yes... because the slight inconvenience of a porn surfer is more important than worrying about the possibility of kids being exposed to videos and photos of same sex orgies, fecophilia or bestiality, among all other types of sick porn that is all over the web. How dare anyone dare delay some porn hunter his solo playtime by a minute or two!!!! The horror!

    64. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy

    65. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judeo-Christian religious doctrine has always been hostile to nature. The bible only refers to nature in a "it is dangerous" or "it must be dominated" way. Sex is seen as a natural desire so it gets lumped in with all the scary stuff out in the wilderness.

      It is also a convenient target for controlling others, along with food. If your religion says "you can't smoke" then fine, most can give up smoking and carry on, but if they go after your sexuality and eating those are needs and urges that you cannot dismiss and now they have something to lord over you every day of your life.

    66. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.

      Yes, now you're in a mental institution. I never seem to have had the problem that you say you did. Nor anyone that I know.

      Yes... because the slight inconvenience of a porn surfer is more important than worrying about the possibility of kids being exposed to videos and photos of same sex orgies, fecophilia or bestiality, among all other types of sick porn that is all over the web. How dare anyone dare delay some porn hunter his solo playtime by a minute or two!!!! The horror!

      Sorry, but I'm not a fan of "for the children" nonsense. I don't really care if children accidentally (in the unlikely event that it happens by accident) run into pornography. Most, if not all of them, will be fine. Just like most of them will likely be fine playing violent video games. So unless you want to offer some actual evidence that looking at pictures will harm the average kid beyond grossing them out, I doubt you'll get me to believe that.

      Oh, and just because you don't find it to be a problem doesn't mean someone else doesn't. A lesser evil (opt-in) is still an evil. And pointless, at that. They might look at a picture of naked bodies! The horror! Little kids likely won't understand and won't find it interesting, older kids will probably look for it themselves. Useless filtering.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    67. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      So unless you want to offer some actual evidence that looking at pictures will harm the average kid beyond grossing them out, I doubt you'll get me to believe that.

      And since this is proposed legislation, I'd say the burden of proof is on its supporters. Why propose something with no evidence?

      Not that I would support harming everyone (by forcing them to opt-in) "for the children," anyway.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    68. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is plenty of good quality porn out there where the woman aren't portrayed in a disgusting fashion. Unfortunately there is a desperate mentality in the dog-eat-dog business that "we have to get more extreme!" to get the attention of the hardcore minority, not unlike how politicians like to go after the fringe voters.

      Someone please tell me when spitting in porn became considered sexy. I have yet to see someone spit on the street and get turned on. That plus violent oral sex until the woman is choking and drooling (and even puking). Wtf?

    69. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Tharsman · · Score: 1

      I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.

      I also had a leg broken as a kid in a car accident. Given I can still walk and even run, I guess it was unfair of us to swue the guy that hit me, after all there was no lasting damage.

      Sorry, but I'm not a fan of "for the children" nonsense.

      You care a lot about the masturbator's lost minutes, though. I ponder what is a bigger nonsense.

      I don't agree with the legistlation in question but for real reasons: too much burden in the ISP that can go as far as driving small providers out of the market and cause a monopoly. The "time wasted" or "burden of opting in" is plainly absurd.

    70. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Pieroxy · · Score: 2

      It is true that the US at least has its share of nutjobs. But I think they're much much more prevalent in the US than anywhere else in the world. Just look at creationism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism

      The US is just ahead of Turkey! There are as many creationists as there are evolutionists! Come on, something's rotten with the US values, and I'm not sure things are going in the right direction.

    71. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      Conversely, have you seen some of the absurdities they get up to in hardcore porn these days? Catering to private fantasies is one thing, but the amount of violence contaminating the general pool of smut at this point is pretty unsettling.

      No, not really. The porn you refer to sounds a bit nonstandard, so maybe you've only encountered it from hanging out with people who have "special interests". I have uh, more than one[*] porno movie, and none of them has anything remotely resembling violence. They're full of all sorts of explicit action, close-ups, group scenes, and so forth, but just with straight sex. Or are we looking at a definition issue, and you'd consider my collection to be merely hard-core erotica so that porn is necessarily nastier in some way?

      [*] Actually, several DVDs, and legal rips therefrom, but not kept on the home media server (if the kids want to see porn, they can damn well get their own). In days of yore, I had a number of VHS tapes with similar material, but abandoned them years ago when my last VCR died.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    72. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      I also had a leg broken as a kid in a car accident. Given I can still walk and even run, I guess it was unfair of us to swue the guy that hit me, after all there was no lasting damage.

      How is accidentally breaking your leg the same thing as accidentally coming across pornography (something that can do no physical harm whatsoever and does, by no means, hurt most people)? In all cases of someone breaking their leg, that person is hurt. This is not so with pornography. I don't know why you found this to be an apt analogy.

      You care a lot about the masturbator's lost minutes, though.

      I care a lot about getting rid of nonsensical, pointless legislation.

      The "time wasted" or "burden of opting in" is plainly absurd.

      I disagree. Different people have different priorities. As I said, a lesser evil is still an evil. I'm completely against collective punishment, no matter how small the punishment. "Some kid could look at porn. Ban it/create an opt-out filter!" As I said, a lesser evil is still an evil. Especially when that lesser evil is being forced on everyone due to what could happen to some people.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    73. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Stormthirst · · Score: 2

      The early part of the Old Testament has an awful lot of "begatting" going on!

    74. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 0

      but for real reasons

      Every reason is real enough. Unless you're saying that people's feelings don't exist, of course.

      And what if these "real reasons" didn't exist? Would you be in favor of this legislation despite the fact that they likely have no evidence to support their claims?

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    75. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amoral means not believing in morality or orthogonal to morality, not not having it (that's "immoral").

    76. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that's exactly what the parent is saying, isn't it? UK and Netherlands are religiously similar, but the attitudes towards sexuality are different, so the difference must arise from other cultural influences rather than primarily religion.

    77. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Romans were onto something when they were sending christians to their deaths. Maybe christians were trying to cock block back then as well, but the government took a different approach?

      Sending Christians to their death is modded funny? NOTE to anti-religious mods: I'm ready, and expecting the "Christians killed people also, ever hear of the Inquisition." That also isn't funny.

    78. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Even in the UK, we thought that was just amusing.

      We don't quite have the liberal attitudes that Europeans do - we used to have a TV show that just showed foreign TV commercials so we could (amongst other things) gawp at the pretty Swedish ladies with their shirts off.

      The American attitude seems so schizo though - they'll sexualize everything to the hilt, but no further. Lots of cleavage and skin, even on very young ladies, but heaven forbid you reveal anything that everyone sees every morning in the mirror...

    79. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 1

      US and UK are mostly protestant, right?

      Religion is a minority pursuit in the UK. It wasn't so long ago that Tony Blair was nearly laughed out of the House of Commons while he was PM when word got out that he sought inspiration from prayer.

      --
      Drill baby drill - on Mars
    80. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 1

      Sigh, I swear I've read Baroness Howe of Idiocy at first glance. Need to brush up my reading skills.

    81. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lions in congress, that's exactly what we need. It can all be televised too.

      edit : captcha is "hatred"

    82. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Fned · · Score: 1

      I suspect the porn industry is going to be ahead of the curve on transitioning to a post-copyright model. There are already porn stars who are experimenting with doing fetish clips on commission on their websites. Those performers that look good in 1080p potentially have a lot of leverage when it comes to "want me to make this film? Hit this crowdfunding target." Moreso than a lot of Hollywood actors, actually, as lots of moviegoers would gladly pay less for In The Mountains of Madness starring any number of actors who aren't Tom Cruise; but in porn, people way more often have favorite performers than they do favorite directors or favorite production companies.

    83. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Fned · · Score: 1

      The oldest known cave drawing is a stick figure with a gigantic boner.

    84. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aww. Did someone get butthurt over their belief in a magical sky-daddy?

    85. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      heaven forbid you reveal anything that everyone sees every morning in the mirror

      I don't look at my own junk. That would be sinful. I only do that when procreating.

    86. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      Sending Christians to their death is modded funny?

      What? Too soon?

    87. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Lots of cleavage and skin, even on very young ladies, but heaven forbid you reveal anything that everyone sees every morning in the mirror...

      Why do you have a mirror in your house, you perv? Don't you know that they expose underage children to child porn??

    88. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by 32771 · · Score: 1

      Naw, porn sucks, people should just have sex. Also porn doesn't give you any physical contact, which according to some is important.

      --
      Je me souviens.
    89. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      If god intended porn to be degrading to women, he would have given them the funny looking O face instead.

    90. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      I've actually had girlfriends who have complained that I should sometimes just take them roughly and fuck their brains out

      As have I. They even used that exact phrase.

    91. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 1

      Gay male porn is different in some pretty fundamental ways from all other gender combinations; this sort of sums it up. At some point, (many) producers realized that the majority of women in porn were just in it for the money, and started making increasing demands on them to get an edge over the competition. Just like with watching soap operas, there's always a part of the human psyche that's reserved for sadistic glee, proportional to how competitive general living is.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    92. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      Feelings are a terrible reason to pass legislation. Just look at the PATRIOT act.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    93. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Being able to talk negatively about others, is a huge goal of British society. One could be surprised at where that can take one's political beliefs, and those beliefs change greatly from one person to another. It just depends on who is in power at the time. Other European cultures are also more or less judgmental, but somehow sex is excluded from it where they are concerned. Now about that, I don't know why...I blame Britain.

    94. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 1

      I'm not saying Weird Shit has eclipsed mainstream porn, just that it's increasingly more common. It's easy to avoid, but there's a sector of the market that's hungry for 'extreme' that also includes 'dehumanizing', in a way that was only really found in BDSM material a decade or two ago. Poke around the top-rated items on a free video site long enough, and you'll probably stumble into it.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    95. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by FrootLoops · · Score: 1

      Huh, how strange. In gay porn once in a while you'll get a top inserting too quickly or vigorously and obviously causing the bottom pain or discomfort, but that's reasonably rare, and as far as I can tell, it's a pretty big turn off for most guys (certainly for me). It never occurred to me how erotic both guys enjoying it is (as evidenced by essentially guaranteed orgasms and boners). Sometimes some guys don't seem terribly into it, which I imagine usually means they're gay for pay, but even then it's not as if they're bored or something--usually they're just sort of trying too hard.

    96. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by FrootLoops · · Score: 1

      The summary really was unclear. The Bill wants "ISPs and mobile operators to 'provide a service that excludes pornographic images'" (opt-in status being unclear) and that "The Bill follows efforts by one MP to make users "opt in" to access pornography" (opt-in again unclear; the previous effort was opt-in, but is the current one?).

    97. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      I do not think you understand what is basic, what is human and what is instinct

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    98. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Ya its nice especially when its a CHOICE. Maybe you don't care if its pushed in your face but most of us do care. See i think your worried about loosing all your free porn clips. if ya do you will have to pay to jerk off. I want pornographers to be responsible and take measures so those who do want pornography can view it and those who don't are not forced too.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    99. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Even so, I still feel if you had said "maybe those Nazis were onto something with the gas chambers", or "maybe the inquisition was onto something with that torture", or "maybe Pol Pot was onto something with those killing fields", I doubt it would have been modded anything other than troll.

      Its a question of whether its a socially appropriate thing to say.

    100. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      What makes you think the begetting stopped?

      Do folks honestly have this conception of christians reluctantly consummating a marriage or using sex for procreation only?

    101. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by qwak23 · · Score: 1

      While I certainly agree with your last statement, what really troubled me about the discussion was that the original question was phrased to ask about regulation in general and not content or porn specifically. The format is that the professor poses the question, each individual responds to that question directly and then side discussions are supposed to occur based on student responses. Almost every post included "protect our children" verbatim and all of them only discussed pornography. I certainly feel that a discussion of pornography and free speech in general is relevent relevent; however, I think other issues are just as relevant and should be addressed and I'm actually shocked that those topics weren't brought up (except by myself). Considering that many of the people in the class appear to be fairly technically inclined, this worries me =/

    102. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      BTW, Google already has a "safe search" feature that is turned on by default. Although things still sneak in, the site does exactly the behavior UK seems to wish ISPs implement.

      Two major differences.

      1) If I want to opt-out of Google's safe search feature, I click a button on the search page. I can choose when to do this, for specific searches (i.e. if I'm looking for something that might be filtered) and then turn it back on for normal use. If I want to opt out of this proposed scheme, I have to be the subscriber/account holder (i.e. not just a user) and I have to prove I'm over 18 (note that the age of consent for sexual activity in the UK is 16... so that age limit makes complete sense). When this idea was floated a few months ago, the suggestion was that one would opt-out when one signed up for a new account, thus leaving no flexibility, or middle ground.

      2) Google provides a "safe search" feature voluntarily; if something gets through, no one really cares. This law would *require* ISPs to filter. If something got through, an ISP could potentially be liable for a breach of statutory duty. This makes it far more likely that ISPs would overblock, to cover themselves.

      --
      Aside from the issue of the technical burden on ISPs to get them to filter, the other major point that people seem to forget is how an ISP is meant to determine whether or not something is "pornographic." That is a rather subjective test (although there are attempts to put it into English law already); some material is obviously pornographic, some obviously not - but there is a rather large grey area in the middle. It seems ludicrous to force ISPs to scan the entire Internet, determine whether or not something is pornographic and then filter it.

      Fortunately, as the summary notes, this is a Private Member's Bill, so unlikely to get anywhere.

    103. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Lord+Maud'Dib · · Score: 1

      Is that their version of a three-strikes rule? What happens after your third? You get castrated?

    104. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by badkarmadayaccount · · Score: 1

      I've been into BDSM for a time, a few years ago. It was actually quite sensual and, well, romantic by comparison with current mainstream porn. Though I've rarely ventured into the most hardcore sites, I think the comparison is quite descriptive.

      --
      I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
    105. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Niels · · Score: 1

      The Netherlands are not mostly Protestant. According to the Dutch national statistics agency CBS's data of 2009, 44% has no religeous affiliation, 28% is Catholic and only 12% is Protestant. See http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=37944&D1=0-1,3-5&D2=a&HDR=T&STB=G1&CHARTTYPE=2&VW=T

    106. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by ikeman32 · · Score: 1

      Seriously, I can't understand you US and UK people. Pornography is nice. It's one of the basic human instincts. Why do you want to deny it? Are you jealous when other people look sexier than you? Still, I can bet that 99.99% of you wank. And did so as teen too. Stop being so fucking jealous.

      Doesn't matter if they manage to pass the law or not, it will be unenforceable. This is nothing more than the moral police trying to wrestle control over the masses. History is replete with examples of failed forced morality, Prohibition for one. And like prohibition this too shall pass.

    107. Re:What is wrong with pornography? by Stormthirst · · Score: 1

      Of course they didn't stop. And American history (and other parts of the world too) is littered with examples where Christians were 'reluctant' in consummating marriage, and only using sex for procreation.

      As with most religions, Christianity uses sex as a weapon to control the population. Wanna have sex? Must be part of our religion, or you'll be damned to an unprovable hell for all eternity. Wanna masturbate? That's a sin too - every sperm is sacred after all.

      Religion is nothing to do with saving your soul, or ensuring you're a "good person". It is ALL about control. You only have to look at the recent controversy over birth control in Congress. The only people permitted to testify were male religious figures. Not a single woman was allowed, and yet who does it effect? The women. It's all about control, the right of women to control their own reproductive capabilities. Incidentally, the rest of the civilised world has moved on from such barbaric nonsense - only in backwards America is this kind of crap still perpetuated.

      You think the government is all about control and rights restriction? Ha! They've got nothing on the church. The worse the government can do is put you to death. The church has your eternal soul! (Allegedly)

  2. Inbreeding... Just say no. by jcr · · Score: 2

    That woman is actually stupid enough to believe that a single country can stop porn on the net.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by kwark · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dude, it isn't about stopping porn on the internet, it is all about thinking of the children.

    2. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by stms · · Score: 5, Funny

      People looking at porn on the internet should not be thinking about children.

    3. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The lady is 80 years old... There may be certain limits to her knowledge of the internet.

    4. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by sa1lnr · · Score: 2

      That stupid jcr didn't RTFA otherwise he/she would of understood that she is not trying to stop porn on the net.

      Not even TFA, it's in the summary.

      Here's a clue: "provide a service that excludes pornographic images"

    5. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      itchy butt goin on right here. Anybody else havin that problem right about now? its ok, just go ahead n scratch

      yeah baby scratch that!

      feels good, dont it

    6. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by jcr · · Score: 2

      Reading comprehension isn't your long suit, apparently. You missed this in the first line: "demands both ISPs and device makers filter adult content." The line you quoted all by itself might sound like she's just asking ISPs to offer filtering software, but if you RTFA, you'd find that she wants it to be filtered by default. Among other things, that means that the ISP has a list of people who've opted-in. A list that a government can abuse.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    7. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand I might like to be on that list and be forced to pay a porn tax and have government subsidized porn. Then I can see 2 government employees fuck each other. Oh wait this is UK not USA...shouldn't they already be like that? Fuck, now I've got this stuck in my head.

    8. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Bert64 · · Score: 2

      Oh i don't know, wanking over porn on the internet is one way to avoid the risk of unintentionally having children.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    9. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by radio4fan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Elspeth Rosamund Morton Howe (Baroness Howe of Idlicote in her own right and and Lady Howe of Aberavon because she's the wife of Baron Howe of Aberavon) is 80 years old.

      This might give everyone a clue as to why she's got no idea about the net, or about the wide acceptance of pornography in mainstream culture.

      Thankfully, this bill has no chance of passing, as there's no money in it for any of Cameron's cronies. Anyway, I can't think of a single bill from the last ten years that started in the House of Lords that became law, never mind one from a cross-bencher.

      BTW: she was created a baroness, and her husband was created a baron; they're not hereditary peers, and her father was the noted architect and writer Philip Morton Shand, so putting it down to inbreeding rather than her simply being out-of-touch, over-privileged and superannuated is maybe a bit harsh!

    10. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by qwak23 · · Score: 1

      And to think I spent all my mod points on that other thread.

    11. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Dude, it isn't about stopping porn on the internet, it is all about thinking of the children.

      ... it is all about being seen thinking of the children.

      FTFY.

      --
      No sig today...
    12. Re:Inbreeding... Just say no. by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...why she's got no idea about the net, or about the wide acceptance of pornography

      Maybe she is just tense and needs a visit from the pizza man.

  3. Retarded by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The political cycle

    10 introduce bill that screws over the people, sponsored by either the fundamental right or a corporation

    20 society tries to rally and shoot it down

    30 if people are down trodden enough pass bill; break, else throw out bill

    40 sleep 5 years

    50 goto 10 with same bill

    Politics and corporations are moving at a glacial pace compared to society, it's getting stupid.

    --
    The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
    1. Re:Retarded by bfandreas · · Score: 1

      Oh, people like Mary Whitehouse crop up every now and then. Like ebb and flood. But in between their comings people seem to forget to say

      Ha-ha. Charade you are.

      You don't listen to the Mary Santorums of this world. You don't argue with the Claire Santorums of this world. You don't compromise with the Rickroll Santorums of this world. You laugh them back into their churches. Two of them are (politically)dead so in that case outliving them might also be sufficient.
      I don't know if Claire Perry lubes up with thoughts of the lord Jeebus like santorum does but basically they are of the same crop. Meddeling busybodies with no further insight than the rest of us.

      Ha-ha. Charade you are.
      Bullshit has been called. Let the ridicule begin.

      --
      20 minutes into the future
    2. Re:Retarded by mapkinase · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is no BREAK in BASIC.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    3. Re:Retarded by SplashMyBandit · · Score: 2

      He was doing BASIC-esque pseudocode, and that certainly has BREAK, you insensitive clod!

    4. Re:Retarded by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      Show me the rules for writing in "BASIC-esque pseudocode"

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    5. Re:Retarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no BREAK in BASIC.

      Show me the rules for writing in "BASIC-esque pseudocode"

      Exactly.

    6. Re:Retarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should have written it in INTERCAL.

    7. Re:Retarded by jcaldwel · · Score: 1

      30 if people are down trodden enough pass bill; break, else throw out bill

      *gasp* There's no "throw" either... No wonder we are stuck in an infinite loop!

    8. Re:Retarded by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      My BASIC code parser threw at break, so the parsing never reached that place.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    9. Re:Retarded by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Hmm, that's funny. My BASIC parser threw at the "introduce". :)

    10. Re:Retarded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      10 each line must have a line number
      20 goto 10

    11. Re:Retarded by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      I read it as a long procedure name

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  4. ISP's are already compliant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nearly all ISP's in the UK have a service which allows the customer's Internet connection to be set to "off." When the "off" setting is activated, all pornographic Internet content can no longer be accessed. This technology is cutting edge — no other filtering is 100% effective.

    1. Re:ISP's are already compliant by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      Indeed.
      False positives are still positives, right?

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    2. Re:ISP's are already compliant by Avoiderman · · Score: 1

      Nearly all ISP's in the UK have a service which allows the customer's Internet connection to be set to "off." When the "off" setting is activated, all pornographic Internet content can no longer be accessed. This technology is cutting edge — no other filtering is 100% effective.

      Love it. Just for that I'd send you free pictures ;-)

    3. Re:ISP's are already compliant by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, those pictures would be caught by his filter.

      --
      Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
      altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  5. Good but bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Asking the ISPs to OFFER THE CHOICE of a feed filtered for adult content, GOOD.
    However the danger Australia showed with this is, once politicians get this, they get carried away and start making blocking of websites mandatory (the usual terror/kiddies claims), which then becomes a list that grows and grows and starts including proxies and sites discussing how to use a proxy and and and ....

    Already the UK block list had Wikipedia listed on it, (the Scorpions album cover features a topless girl, as if that was somehow porm) so they're already way down the route of state control of what you can read on the net.

    IMHO, having seen what happened in Australia, its better not to go down this route.

    1. Re:Good but bad by WegianWarrior · · Score: 2

      Reading comprehension is a great thing... or possible you didn't RTFA (or the summary):

      "(the bill) requires ISPs and mobile operators provide a "service which excludes pornographic images" unless the customer opts in, is over 18 and the company has verified that fact.".

      So basically this bill - if it goes through - would require you not only to prove to your ISP that you're over 18, but also to pretty much ask your ISP "Can I pretty please be allowed to look at pretty women online?" (or pretty men, if thats your thing). And while it says noting in TFA about it, Im damn sure the ISP would not only keep a list on hand on who of their customers like to look at pretty women (or men) online, but would also refuse if they think it's possible that your computer might be used by under 18s.

      --
      Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
    2. Re:Good but bad by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 2

      No! They were supposed to hide the incriminating documents from that one time in Australia! No one in the world must know that "confidential child pornography blacklist" is a euphemism for "censor any website we like without oversight!" How will we crush dissenting opinions now?!

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    3. Re:Good but bad by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      Not just porn but kiddie porn. I'm surprised that U2's first album wasn't blocked for similar reasons.

  6. But we already have that by Qubit · · Score: 2

    It's called "change the channel" or "disable connections to the primary Internet."

    Seriously -- if the government or some other organization wants to create a walled playground for their own fun and games, then by all means do so. Lots of organizations run networks of interconnected computers spread out geographically around the world. Some of them even keep their network separate from other people's networks, with the most security-conscious even using air gaps and other barriers. The most famous of these networks is The Internet. But it's not the only network out there that can host and serve content.

    Thankfully if you RTFA it looks like this is just the ranting of someone in the House of Lords, and it appears that those with a pint of good sense over in the Government are quite opposed to this whole idea, with the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport saying that "self-regulation...can be more effective than a regulatory approach in delivering flexible solutions that work for both industry and consumers.”

    --

    coding is life /* the rest is */
    1. Re:But we already have that by PiMuNu · · Score: 1

      "self-regulation...can be more effective than a regulatory approach in delivering flexible solutions that work for both industry and consumers.”

      Translation from British into American - "Go screw yourself you crazy old bat" cf Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister for further examples of British English

  7. What ISPs should do: by marcello_dl · · Score: 2

    Offer a 1£ a month internet plan with a firewall that drops every incoming packet, since it is the only theoretical and practical way to prevent the user from getting any porn (breaking encryption and steganography for each possible algorithm for incoming traffic is theoretically impossible and practically next to impossible). So this is what the law says must be done.

    just remember to offer users a trial period so they cannot claim they are unsatisfied with the service after subscribing.

    Warning IANAL and I don't live in that fascist place (I am in another one)

    --
    ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  8. Irony by Bunzinator · · Score: 1

    It's rather ironic, a Private Member trying to ban private members.

  9. I think Dogbert put it best ... by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    Anyone trying to put a bill through like this should be able to answer this question first. Preferably in essay form, and then present something comparable to a thesis defense.

  10. Won't work by Haedrian · · Score: 1

    Every single time I see one of these stupid bills the first thing that comes to mind is 'won't work.

    You can set up the most intelligent, crazy whitelist type system in the world, then it'll get thwarted by someone sending an email, or someone posting something on a forum. And that's assuming that the blocking itself works (hint: it doesn't).

    There are too many sites on the internet, there is too much of a wide definition of what is porn or not, and if you block agenericpornsite (blacklist), then someone will come up with anothergenericpornsite - and your filter is useless. The fact that you can get domain names pretty cheaply doesn't help either.

    While we're here I'd like a system which excludes all malware please. K thnx.

    1. Re:Won't work by bfandreas · · Score: 2

      I think the backbencher Claire Perry doesn't think that far. Her track record:
      -called for an opt-out anti smut web filter
      -called for Remembrance Sunday to be a bank holiday(withdrawn by her after wasting enough of everybodies time on it)
      -called for an opt-out anti smut web filter again

      She seems to have a Conservative safe seat and it's good to know she puts it to good use. Since she isn't that obviously such an over-the-top kook like the transatlantic ones with their big trousers, silly noses and unfortunate names I feel the need to call her out.
      That woman is a bad joke. And not even a good one. Besides, Boris "Boris Johnson" Johnson looks like he could object to limiting the steady flow of porn from the internet. So she could be in real hot water ones he makes PM. Which would be a blessing since hot water washes all the santorum away.

      --
      20 minutes into the future
    2. Re:Won't work by Fned · · Score: 1

      You can set up the most intelligent, crazy whitelist type system in the world, then it'll get thwarted by someone sending an email, or someone posting something on a forum.

      It's worse than that. You can force an air gap between every single computer in the entire world, forever destroying real-time communication, search engines, web presences, e-commerce, and nearly all independent journalism; yet, for all that, porn and illegal file sharing will remain almost entirely unaffected, due to the amazing bandwidth modern storage technology provides to SneakerNet. A smallish cocktail party could result in the overall exchange of a few dozen terabytes of data without any electronic networking whatsoever. As per Kevin Bacon, any individual copy could potentially be only six hops from anyone in the world to anyone else.

  11. How to filter porn? by WegianWarrior · · Score: 1

    Since no one seems to agree to a simple, easily understandable definition of what pornography actually is, and software have yet to be able to recognize images with a 100% success rate... well, I guess the only sure way to filter out all the pornographic images is to suppress all the images on the various websites the user requests. Or mandate the use of a text based browser such as Lynx.

    Next up; a bill to stop all the pornographic stories and words out there on the evil, evil interwebs...

    --
    Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
    1. Re:How to filter porn? by greyc · · Score: 1

      Blocking all images is not sufficient for entirely blocking pornography. It'd still leave ASCII art, for instance.

    2. Re:How to filter porn? by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Not to mention written pornography and uuencoded images.

  12. Just vote her out next election . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    That's the good thing about living in a democracy . . . stop whining and get out in the next election and vote for somebody else, instead!

    Now, when, is the next election for the House of Lords . . . ?

    Oh, hmmm . . . well, how do you get rid of a member of the House of Lords? Can they be expelled by the Queen, or something like that?

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:Just vote her out next election . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The whole point of the House of Lords is that they're not elected, and hence don't have to spend their time pandering to the electorate; they can make sensible decisions that no elected politician would be allowed to do. Opposition to the Lords comes primarily from those trying to push through unpopular legislation, not because they try to push through unpopular legislation; which they can't do unless the elected politicians support it.

      There is absolutely no point in electing two different groups of politicians because you'll get roughly the same mix of parties in both. Switching from indirect to direct election of the Senate was one of the most disastrous decisions in the political history of America, for the same reason.

    2. Re:Just vote her out next election . . . by Haedrian · · Score: 2

      Traditionally you grabbed your torch and pitchfork, met with your friends and stormed their mansion.

    3. Re:Just vote her out next election . . . by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 1

      You'd need to get a considerable tide of public opinion to actually get someone's letters patent revoked. Given she's a Conservative peer the chances of that happening are approaching zero; such things only happen at the recommendation of the Privy Council - which is headed up by the incumbent government.

      --

      Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

    4. Re:Just vote her out next election . . . by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 1

      Actually I take that back, she's a Cross Bench Peer. She also got her peerage through being recommended for one by the general public. The chances of her getting her letters patent revoked are, however, still pretty much zero.

      --

      Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

  13. Is this what they are talking about? by TheInternetGuy · · Score: 1
    --
    If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
  14. Rule 34 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry Baroness Ho' but rule 34 guarantees that you cannot do this unless you block all internet traffic.

    1. Re:Rule 34 by 32771 · · Score: 1
      --
      Je me souviens.
  15. .xxx by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they hadn't banned the use of .xxx domains then maybe by now most of the port sites would have switched over and used those domain names and browsers could have a parental section that would stop children from loading .xxx addresses... It's THAT simple... but banning porn altogether, it's a pipedream of an idiot...

    1. Re:.xxx by Haedrian · · Score: 1

      And of course all pornography websites would be on xxx. For all descriptions of pornography. Which also includes for example artistic nudes (for some people or some jurisdictions). All you're doing is sweeping it under the rug.

  16. House of Lords by spectrokid · · Score: 1

    Are they still a bunch of old scared white men with broomsticks up their asses? And how are the plans going to change all that?

    --

    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  17. Uhm, male Baroness? by steve.cri · · Score: 1

    The Baroness Howl of Idiote obviously is a woman, although it probably is a good guess that she's old, white, and probably also with the scared and the broomstick thing

    1. Re:Uhm, male Baroness? by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 1

      She's fairly old, at 80. She appears to not be a complete fruit case though - she used to be a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

      --

      Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

    2. Re:Uhm, male Baroness? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's fairly old, at 80. She appears to not be a complete fruit case though - she used to be a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

      The one headed by racists like Trevor Philips?

  18. Block Jarretiere keyword ;-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would propose to block the "jarretiere" keyword on Internet .... and see what royalists think of this proposition ;-)

  19. "Online Safety"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is unsafe about seeing pornography?!

    1. Re:"Online Safety"... by FrkyD · · Score: 1

      Um, Blindness? At least that's what the anti-masturbators used to say.

      Of course, that has the added benefit of making it impossible for one to view porn, so I guess it all sorts itself out in the end.

      Still sighted, but I'm working on it...

  20. House of Lords, methinks... by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 1

    ...thou doth protest too much.

  21. Illegal hardware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    From the article: "It also seeks to force device manufacturers to provide customers with a way to filter adult content "from an internet service at the time the device is purchased". That would apply to any devices that can connect to the internet."

    Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; the people that write these things must have been living in a cave for the last 30 years to have such a limited understanding of technology.

    Would this mean that hardware is effectively illegal (as such a requirement would be practically impossible to meet)? Would this apply to manufacturers of ethernet/wifi components or just to companies that assemble complete, internet-accessing computers?

  22. ah yes, the Euros are so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cultured, aren't they?

  23. Dont like something on the net. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't use it.

  24. Parentel control, haha by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Parental control software is utterly useless, the vast majority of kids know a lot more about computers than their parents and have no trouble bypassing a parental control system that is purely software based... It's a classic case of client side security.

    If you want something like that to be even remotely effective, it has to run at a layer further up the network that the kids have no access to.

    That said, porn and sex are a fact of life.
    Your kids will encounter them at some point wether you like it or not... When they're really young they wont be interested in it, and when they get older they will actively seek it out.

    To a kid, if a subject is forbidden then its automatically more interesting... The more you try to prevent them seeing porn, they more they will look for it, and this is nothing new.
    When i was a kid, internet access was very rare and porn on computers was pixelated and dithered.. So we acquired porn from magazines and on vhs tapes.

    And something else important to consider, if you try to prevent your kids from learning about such things as porn, then they will just get introduced to it by other kids at school instead... Surely better for you to educate them in a controlled environment, so they are prepared for what they will encounter when they venture out into an environment that you don't control.
    If you wrap them in cotton wool and shield them from any thoughts or violence, sex, bad language etc, then they will be completely unprepared when they encounter such things form other kids at school, and will have far more interest in them because its new to them and forbidden at home.

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    1. Re:Parentel control, haha by qu33ksilver · · Score: 1

      Seriously man, do these guys think that by blocking the ISPs they can stop porn from internet ? I am from India and naturally sites like netflix, pandora is blocked. But does that mean I can't view them ? I can RDP to any machine in our company HQ in Florida or Santa Clara and open any site, do whatever I want. As simple as that. You may talk about religion and what is good for children and so many things under the sun, but hasn't society changed ? Okay I agree that children might not study if they have access to porn on their homes. But does that mean prohibiting porn will make them better students ?

    2. Re:Parentel control, haha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      parental control software is an educational opportunity for children to learn more about computers and subverting authority.

    3. Re:Parentel control, haha by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      the vast majority of kids know a lot more about computers than their parents

      While that's likely true, their greatest accomplishment is probably accessing Facebook.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    4. Re:Parentel control, haha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My Question is if this passes what happens to the immense amount of "Furs" in the UK?
      Most people who are outside believe that they commit bestiality,and are derived sexoholics and what not so my thinking is, Will furry be outlawed?
      Cause if it does i predict a large migration, of "Furs".

  25. Waste of time and effort by MrMickS · · Score: 2

    Reading the provisions in the bill its not so much a ban on porn but rather restricting access to it unless the primary subscriber has expressed a desire to see it and can prove that they are 18 or over.

    All of the mobile (cell) providers in the UK already operate a similar system for Internet access over their networks. The ISPs will introduce a similar system if they feel that their consumers want it.

    If the subscriber opts in though anyone in the household will be able to get all of the porn that they want so its pretty much a fig leaf exercise for the Daily Mail readers.

    --
    You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
  26. Consequences? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Expect a sudden rise in crimes of sexual nature soon after this bill becomes law. Its not like they could predict this sort of thing happening they're politicians, people who are incompetent in every area imaginable but with strong opinions about everything.

    Most of the time people who seek to be in position of power are exactly those that should never be allowed to do so. It happens everywhere: in politics, work environments and summer camps.

    1. Re:Consequences? by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Over an optional filter?

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  27. Doesn't the Government have enough to do by kawabago · · Score: 1

    Without interfering in my masturbation?

  28. title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 2

    Bill demands service from ISP which could be chosen or rejected by users. Users will still have this wonderful opportunity to see humans degrade themselves on camera for money.

    So, no, "UK Bill DOES NOT Demand Web Pornography Ban"

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re:title does not reflect the content by elgaard · · Score: 1

      I wish some ISPs would implement this kind of opt-in against e.g. government parties and major religions. If it is not censorship they should
      Have no problem with it?

    2. Re:title does not reflect the content by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people don't find sex degrading. What does that say about you?

    3. Re:title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      >Have no problem with it?

      I have a common sense problem with it. Not a lot of people have problem with restricting access to pornography compared to number of people that will have a problem with restricting access to Islamic sites or Christian sites.

      My view is that a right worth as much as how much people are going to fight for it.

      I know people who sacrificing their life for Islam and do not know people sacrificing their life for pornography.

      Do YOU have a problem with that?

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    4. Re:title does not reflect the content by elgaard · · Score: 1

      Yes I have a problem with having to risk your life to enjoy fundamental rights.

      I doubt that many would risk their lives for the UK political psrtied.

    5. Re:title does not reflect the content by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      Not a lot of people have problem with restricting access to pornography

      I don't understand. What are you trying to say? "Many people like this content. Therefore, it's good and should not be censored!" You could say that about anything.

      But really, how do you know that "not a lot of people" have a problem with restricting access to harmless pornography?

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    6. Re:title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      "Many people like this content. Therefore, it's good and should not be censored!"

      That's not what I was saying. It's not number of people who like the content. It's about humber of people who will do something about restricing content.

      Everybody loves ice cream, yet very few will protest if ice cream was dropped by major manufactureerss

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    7. Re:title does not reflect the content by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      But the fact that people would protest over a certain kind of censorship only means that it's less likely to be censored, not that it's a reason that it shouldn't be censored. If you meant the former, though, then I agree with you.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    8. Re:title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      "not that it's a reason that it shouldn't be censored"

      That's ideological.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    9. Re:title does not reflect the content by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      I simply meant to imply that saying, "It's objectively wrong to censor X because a lot of people wouldn't like that." is just an appeal to popularity.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    10. Re:title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      "It's objectively wrong to censor X because a lot of people wouldn't like that."

      -objectively wrong
      +commonsensically wrong

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    11. Re:title does not reflect the content by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 1

      +commonsensically wrong

      Okay. You'll have to define that for me, because I have no idea what that means. It could be "common sense" that the world is flat, but in the end, declaring something to be "common sense" means absolutely nothing.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    12. Re:title does not reflect the content by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      The common sense here is ... nah, does not worth it.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  29. My poor brothers by zippo01 · · Score: 4, Funny

    My poor brothers across the pond. I can only imagine your pain. Blue and swollen pain.

  30. Censorship isn't just a black and white issue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some commenters here posting about when they were a kid, they'd read dirty magazines with photos and VHS tapes but the Internet today is unfiltered. Kids can easily stumble upon shock sites and sites which primarily host death material. The mags and VHS tapes were filtered before they went on the shelves so no, times are different and different policies must be employed.

    A good way, is if you have kids, you have a white list. Plain and simple. Of course you can't stop them looking at material their friends houses but at least it prevents some trauma they may not get from some material found on the Internet. The best case scenario is having ISP's have a default white list if the family has kids and the parents get a password in their broadband package that they put in for unfiltered access. This is because most parents don't know how to filter or install safe guards (some parents don't care) but its important there are some limits on what kids can see, unless you honestly think a 8 year old won't be traumatised by some material found on the Internet like real deaths as mentioned before.

  31. Think of the children by roman_mir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wouldn't you think of the children? Those very children, whose future you are selling out by putting all of your current and past expenses on their tab?

    Wouldn't you think of the children, those very children that you are leaving with all these hatred around the world because of all the illegal and immoral wars that are you sending children into?

    Wouldn't you think of the children, the same children that have no sound economy to look forward to, because you have chased away all of the savings and investment capital and all of the manufacturing and production out of your countries, because you just have to buy everything you, including the biggest governments can with fake money?

    Wouldn't you think of those children, whose freedoms you are stealing by creating all these laws that ensure that the children basically end up leaving in prison like conditions, strip searched at every point, fined, jailed, regulated, taxed, etc.?

    Wouldn't you think of the children, same ones that will have no knowledge or real education but huge debts, because you are lying to them that they need all that government education while putting them on the government guaranteed (and thus seemingly endless) loan needle?

    Wouldn't you think of the children, who won't be able to run their own businesses due to all of the protections you are giving to your preferred monopolies, all of the regulations, laws, taxes, licenses, bail outs, stimulus, etc.etc., everything you do, when you prop up failing corporations you like so much and ensure that nobody can compete with them?

    But at least you are making sure that the children don't see those 'offending' pornography images and videos. Of-course that's just a pretence that you are running in order to secure some form of total control over the information on the Internet, the only real outlet of actual data that those very children can use to learn something useful about the world around them.

    1. Re:Think of the children by samuX · · Score: 1

      thanks for this wonderful post

  32. Private Members Bills... by Kr3m3Puff · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... especially in the House of Lords mean nothing. They are individual bills introduced by members to usually provoke conversation versus any real intention of becoming law. They get debated and discussed and almost always get struck down. It is a customary process that allows the UK to consider and discuss things that would not be discussed by normal routes. So even mentioning (and mis-characterising it) is just to just sensationalise something that shouldn't be. The fact that the UK Government is actually considering unwarranted surveillance of the Internet in the UK is far more "dangerous" because of the way they are introducing it, via the Queen's Speech, which means it is setting out what the Government supports and actually plans to do over the next 12 months. Usually what is in the Queen's Speech gets banged into Law one way or another.

    --
    D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
    1. Re:Private Members Bills... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a ignorant American: I thought members of House of Lords couldn't introduce any new bill. Only the Commons can do that. Or else what's the point of voting when unelected Lords can do whatever.

  33. if porn was banned from the internet by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    35% to 60% of the subscribers that surf the internet would vanish in a week (maybe more) they would cancel their ISP accounts, and sell their computers or use them for strictly offline use, (computers do have a purpose other than surfing the internet)

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  34. Private Member Bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For anyone unfamiliar with UK politics, it's a Private Member Bill, which means some random Lord came up with the idea, not the government as a whole. It has no chance in hell of being passed.

  35. opt in rules by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    Are wrong unless you are buying something.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  36. Re:Best sex-ed by s0nicfreak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Porn definitely should not be used as sex ed. The fact that porn was your only source of sex ed shows a huge failure on the part of your parents, your school, and your culture. But anyway I'd be willing to bet that the banning of porn would just happen to catch valid sex ed information, too.

  37. When has anyone NOT opted-on? by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

    Has anyone here ever seen porn without opting in? Even back in the days when porn rules were a lot more lax on the internet, I never once accidentally viewed porn. It's always on a site that I know has the potential to have porn, or I have to actively seek it out. And I've been on computers since the BBS days. The closest thing I can come up with is when goatse was new and a friend told me to check it out; But even then, it was my choice to go to a website with no prior knowledge of what it was about, I knew it could potentially be porn.

    My kids have unfiltered/unlimited internet access and have never accidentally looked at porn. This whole idea of "ensuring people opt-in" stems from people getting viruses from porn sites, or porn in their history and then lying by saying they accidentally stumbled upon the porn site. Nowdays, pretty much every porn site requites you to click/check that you are 18+. Why wouldn't they? People under 18 don't pay for porn or anything the porn sites are advertising; those people don't make them any money. There isn't some secret conspiracy to shove porn into children's faces for no reason.

  38. Mary Whitehouse lives on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and on and on

  39. Hypocrisy or stupidity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So I guess they want to spend taxpayers money and have the private sector do that to, as well as establish censorship, only to promote anything related to sex within the black market in real life .

  40. Re: that link by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

    I find it quite amazing that these kids watch so much porn, yet all they ever see is the condom-less, silicone, shaved pubes type. I also love how it smoothly connects teens viewing porn and the sexualisation of children - which are really two very different things - in the reader's mind.

  41. wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had trouble accepting this for Egypt, but for UK it's pretty much impossible.

  42. Fucktarded luddites everywhere! by kheldan · · Score: 1, Insightful

    WHY is it that these morons can't seem to get it through their thick heads that what they're asking to do is not technically feasible??!? You don't like porn? Then don't look at it, morons!!!

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  43. what a fine bunch to push this bill... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wanting judges in frizzy wigs and pleated muu muus to rule against British subjects who see their Lords in porn online.

  44. Sears catalog by WillgasM · · Score: 1

    Back in my day, Internet connections were so slow you would lose your erection between loading images. I was lucky enough to have a stash of my dad's old playboys and victoria's secret catalogs I had collected over the years. Those less fortunate than I had to wank to sears catalogs, canoe boxes, and pictures of their second cousin in a bikini.

  45. Baroness Howe Idiotcunt ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go fuck yourself you prude bitch.

    I bet you like to take it up the ass from your black gardener.

  46. House of Lords by Phoenix666 · · Score: 1

    This is not meant as a "we're better than you are" comment, because America is not better than the UK. Certainly not anymore.

    But enshrining aristocratic fops in the House of Lords makes me gakh! Isn't it time for Britain to cast off such bizarre anachronisms like the aristocracy and monarchy?

    Shedding such things is one good thing America did do. Yes, the Jamie Dimons and Lloyd Blankfeins and their 1% ilk are trying to fashion themselves into functionally the same thing as an aristocracy, which we will shortly deal with, but we do have a history of deposing them.

    I dunno, watching an otherwise modern country like Britain wear the trappings of a monarchic past is like encountering a sysadmin that communicates with the rest of the company via paper memo typed on a typewriter.

    --
    Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
  47. Re:Best sex-ed by Fned · · Score: 1

    Porn definitely should not be used as sex ed. The fact that porn was your only source of sex ed shows a huge failure on the part of your parents, your school, and your culture.

    It's a failure of sex-ed materials is what it is. If nobody is seeking them out on their own, they must not be very good. It's not like there's no interest.

  48. Control system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't you understand the control system now? Just like Religion, Politics, and TV (of which porn is a branch of) it's all about controlling you and your perception of what is 'right and wrong' in this reality we call life.

    Funny how so many people have been brainwashed what to think by the controlling of the above.

  49. Call me crazy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...but maybe it'd just be easier to ban having sex with females.

    THEY HAVE COOTIES!

  50. Beavis and Butthead respond... by Xtifr · · Score: 1

    Heh-heh, you said "private members"! Oh, and BTW, your post is now banned in the UK. :)

  51. If you live in the UK, then let this Lady know! by SD+NFN+STM · · Score: 1

    Here is the official UK government portal to e-mail Lady Howe of Idlicote. If you live in the UK, then I urge you to write to her with your opinions:

    www.writetothem.com

  52. Nuns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Communist nuns in charge. UK is the new little China.

  53. Re:Best sex-ed by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

    I disagree. People don't think they need them; they think they learned it all from porn, or they think the advice they got from a friend is true. I have met adults in the US that honestly believe that if you "wash out" a vagina in a shower after sex you won't get pregnant.

  54. Story's title by hobarrera · · Score: 1

    "UK Bill Again Demands Internet Ban"

    FTFY