Monday, July 05, 2004
U.S. Porn Law Knocked Down:
The U.S. Supreme Court has rebuked a porn law enacted under Clinton and supported by Bush. Apparently it was felt that the law infringed on first amendment rights. This is a very tough topic. On the one side we have the rights of Americans to freedom. On the other side we have the need to protect children and others from the kind of deviance that can be freely obtained on the internet. We must also protect the children from the makers of child porn. The answer to the riddle eludes me. The concept of morality police scares the hell out of me. At the same time I can think of nothing more repulsive than the concept of children being used for the sexual pleasure of adults.
Alas, it is not only child porn that causes offense to me on the internet. There are many images of women being raped and tortured, some appear very realistic. Not to mention the people who seem to enjoy the untimate in this kind of thing, which are the snuff and gore sites. It is damn scary to think of how many people there are who enjoy this kind of imagery, they actually take pleasure in the suffering of others! One might say to each his own except for the fact that someone is getting hurt just to make this kind of film or picture.
Suffice to say, we can spend a long time going through all the various disturbing matter available for our enjoyment. I, for one, have no problem with laws that would prevent my children from being exposed to this. Laws exist but they seem to have no teeth. For too long North American laws have favored the accused. Despite this situation we are bombarded with stories of the wrongly imprisoned. If, with all our civil rights, we can't manage to put the actually guilty in jail, what would happen if we had even less civil rights?
So what is the solution? Should we allow flawed legislators even more power over us. Should we let the situation continue as it is, with more filth available to all, children included, than in the history of the planet? Something has got to give. I support the new IT world completely. The path to enlightenment is not followed by hiding. We must get a hold on this before it becomes worse. Even with tough laws here, there are many other places in the world to transmit this material from. Should we trust ISPs to police themselves? Hasn't worked so far. Thera are even applications where the publishing of this material might be appropriate( training of medical professionals, police, lawyers, etc.) So where do we draw the line, and more importantly, who gets to be the judge.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rebuked a porn law enacted under Clinton and supported by Bush. Apparently it was felt that the law infringed on first amendment rights. This is a very tough topic. On the one side we have the rights of Americans to freedom. On the other side we have the need to protect children and others from the kind of deviance that can be freely obtained on the internet. We must also protect the children from the makers of child porn. The answer to the riddle eludes me. The concept of morality police scares the hell out of me. At the same time I can think of nothing more repulsive than the concept of children being used for the sexual pleasure of adults.
Alas, it is not only child porn that causes offense to me on the internet. There are many images of women being raped and tortured, some appear very realistic. Not to mention the people who seem to enjoy the untimate in this kind of thing, which are the snuff and gore sites. It is damn scary to think of how many people there are who enjoy this kind of imagery, they actually take pleasure in the suffering of others! One might say to each his own except for the fact that someone is getting hurt just to make this kind of film or picture.
Suffice to say, we can spend a long time going through all the various disturbing matter available for our enjoyment. I, for one, have no problem with laws that would prevent my children from being exposed to this. Laws exist but they seem to have no teeth. For too long North American laws have favored the accused. Despite this situation we are bombarded with stories of the wrongly imprisoned. If, with all our civil rights, we can't manage to put the actually guilty in jail, what would happen if we had even less civil rights?
So what is the solution? Should we allow flawed legislators even more power over us. Should we let the situation continue as it is, with more filth available to all, children included, than in the history of the planet? Something has got to give. I support the new IT world completely. The path to enlightenment is not followed by hiding. We must get a hold on this before it becomes worse. Even with tough laws here, there are many other places in the world to transmit this material from. Should we trust ISPs to police themselves? Hasn't worked so far. Thera are even applications where the publishing of this material might be appropriate( training of medical professionals, police, lawyers, etc.) So where do we draw the line, and more importantly, who gets to be the judge.
# posted by Wil Smith : 5:33 p.m.
