Should Access To Online Pornography Be Blocked?

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Internet service providers in the UK will soon be asking new customers if they want access to adult content when they sign up for internet service.

If you switch to a new provider for your internet access later this year, you will be forced to make a choice: do you want access to adult content or not? If you are with one of the big four providers, you won't be able to get online until you answer.
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Certainly a good idea for parents with kids who don't want to access any adult material. I'm curious how well it will be blocked. I
 
If they are placing the option solely in the discretion of the consumer, I don't see any problem with it, even if they are forcing the question. Wondering myself though how the conversation would pan out with the wife...
 
n1ce_hat said:
Can I make my internet connection ONLY show porn and disable all other sites?
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We better get some porn on here real quick, oh wait...pretty sure that picture of Steve floating around gets us in...phew was worried for a moment. :p
 
I am in agreement with JesterOI. It should be opt out. I like the idea of being able to filter at the ISP level, but only as long as it is optional.
 
WHY can't we teach our children to be respectful and use the internet properly - i.e. parenting - instead of ridiculous controls that give people a false sense of security - you don't think kids will find a way around this?

As an early 80's child growing up, I had access to pretty much an "uncensored" internet and I turned out just fine. I didn't do anything I shouldn't have on the internet, because I was taught by my parents not to.

I just don't understand how technology somehow is a standin for proper parenting now.
 
RyanLucier said:
WHY can't we teach our children to be respectful and use the internet properly - i.e. parenting - instead of ridiculous controls that give people a false sense of security - you don't think kids will find a way around this?

As an early 80's child growing up, I had access to pretty much an "uncensored" internet and I turned out just fine. I didn't do anything I shouldn't have on the internet, because I was taught by my parents not to.

I just don't understand how technology somehow is a standin for proper parenting now.
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if porn is obtainable, young boys will obtain it. i know i did. :) and still do. :D

(and i was raised ok an am a decent person etc)
 
you find porn on xxx, com ,net, co, info, org, us, ca, mobi, biz, me web sites.How are the isp's gonna block/filter all this?
 
Can I get a list of all the sites they have on their block list? It is purely for uhhh scientific research.
 
Lol right, so people are going to be setting up their service in the store or over the phone when the nice lady asks them if they want to see porn. Can't see that being awkward for anyone.
 
Let's block sexual content. One of the natural, enjoyable, doesn't hurt anybody if done reasonably, great things in life.
 
How do they know they're filtering all of it though? Even with filters you can still run across stuff you don't want to see because not all websites are diligent about how they describe themselves to a search engine. Double entendre means anything can show up. In addition, there's the problem of intent vs content label. If a parent is wanting no sexually explicit material to be available then only filtering "porn" will be insufficient. Many nature programs include some very sexually explicit content without it being classified as pornography since it does not involve humans, and there's no shortage of such content on sites such as YouTube.

Then there's the other side of the equation. If they're filtering "porn", what else might they filter? If you have a link to a site that offers information but also happens to host some amount of adult content, or that someone has posted through a link, then does the whole site become blocked in the process? You're at the mercy of whoever is setting the standard for what qualifies as pornography, which may differ vastly from what the end user would define it as. The whole premise of the ISP deciding for you seems counterproductive.
 
Sp33dFr33k said:
Certainly a good idea for parents with kids who don't want to access any adult material.
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I'm fairly certain there are already a multitude of such blocking products available ranging from hardware to software, and that they existed prior to being mandated in the UK.
 
If any of you are worried that it would be mandated and not opt-in, don't worry, the porn lobbyists will see to it that online porn (where I bet 90% of porn is bought) doesn't get outlawed.

In a way I think this is a good idea. Since the ISP has to implement it the parents can check the box and little Johnny can't reasonably get it unchecked. The kid could only get around it by knowing their parents payment information (last 4 digits of SSN too AFAIK), plus the customer service peeps would know if it's a kid with a high-pitched voice. If the parent doesn't want the kid to get access to p0rn (<-not marked wrong by spell check) then it seems more tamper-resistant than anything else.
 
"...and sure enough, our opponent was on the list of people who chose to receive adult content on their internet feed! We leaked it to the news media, our opponent was disgraced, and we won easily!"
 
Forbidden knowledge is a leftover relic from ancient times and has no place in the modern era.

I know it sounds terrible to some people to say that it just doesn't matter if kids see porn or not, but it really doesn't. Anti-porn people conjure up these images that if a kid has access to porn that it will magically turn every person into a rapist and a sex addict, but it's just not true.

I would contend that hiding it from children and freaking out about it has a worse effect on children. They see this picture that has the power to make their parents panic and become unstable. When your emotional anchor flips out about something, it burns that object into your mind, permanently earmarked as something of great emotional power.

If we just treated it the same moral indifference we assign to, say, chairs and light bulbs, nobody will have a burning curiosity about it.
 
Slippery slope. Why stop at pornography? Isn't violence far more damaging to youth than consensual sex?

If they want to INFORM the customers that their router includes parental features, that is great.

But they shouldn't be asking or trying to regulate what their customers can and cannot get to on the internet. That is not any of their business.
 
Maplehamwich said:
Let's block sexual content. One of the natural, enjoyable, doesn't hurt anybody if done reasonably, great things in life.
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But glorify violence like in Call of Duty, because heaven forbid a young male jack it in peace at home, when he should be mentally preparing to join the military and be a good little soldier and kill for money and power the elite desire.
 
NO. ISPs should not be the ones responsible for blocking content. The user should have that choice and make it on their own time. How does the ISP declare what is and isn't adult content for any user? They can't. This is simply more censorship taking place where it should not.

Let us say I do not ant to see "adult sites" but I am a gun enthusiast, and sites related to custom building guns gets blocked as well. So in an effort to restrict pron access I just shot myself in the foot when it comes to my own hobby. Pun intended.

If the user wishes to filter sites then they should be responsible for buying or downloading the filter of their choice and setting it up for their computer. Perhaps the ISP could help these individuals by offering their own program and allow the customer to set their black/white list themselves with their ISP account using software on their own computer.

Censorship is always wrong when censoring other people. Censor yourself but don't fuck with my rights.
 
Phoenix333 said:
Then there's the other side of the equation. If they're filtering "porn", what else might they filter? If you have a link to a site that offers information but also happens to host some amount of adult content, or that someone has posted through a link, then does the whole site become blocked in the process? You're at the mercy of whoever is setting the standard for what qualifies as pornography, which may differ vastly from what the end user would define it as. The whole premise of the ISP deciding for you seems counterproductive.
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Yup. I've never seen a well done anything blocking mechanism. Theres "naughty words" and imagery on wikipedia, are they going to block that? Or for 3d modeling you generally use naked people photos to get proportions/musculature correct. Theres a load of non sexual reasons to be looking at naked people.

Theres lots of bad things certain people could do with this. For example, if they make it "embarrassing" to ask to see pornography, then most people wont have it. Then any site they don't like suddenly becomes "porn" and is inaccessible.

This isn't a good thing for anyone. I don't see any possible benefit... It's a normal human thing to do...not sure why they are making such a huge deal out of it. Maybe they should make one about blocking angry sites. Thats much more likely to do harm to others or yourself...
 
XacTactX said:
If any of you are worried that it would be mandated and not opt-in, don't worry, the porn lobbyists will see to it that online porn (where I bet 90% of porn is bought) doesn't get outlawed.

In a way I think this is a good idea. Since the ISP has to implement it the parents can check the box and little Johnny can't reasonably get it unchecked. The kid could only get around it by knowing their parents payment information (last 4 digits of SSN too AFAIK), plus the customer service peeps would know if it's a kid with a high-pitched voice. If the parent doesn't want the kid to get access to p0rn (<-not marked wrong by spell check) then it seems more tamper-resistant than anything else.
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It's not that hard to get the last 4 of a parents' SSN: taxes, bills, credit cards, some driver's licenses even list it.
Voice synthesizer/morphing program (or app for your parent's cell phone).

If that was all that was standing between teenage me and and an internet full of pr0n, you better believe I'd have the pr0n reactivated in no time. Kids these days probably wouldn't even get smacked if they got caught, no downside in trying.
 
yeah, but what *exactly* is considered a Porn site?
Some are easy, but what about sites that sort of have a little bit of this and a little bit of that?
DeviantArt? 4chan?
 
fattypants said:
Forbidden knowledge is a leftover relic from ancient times and has no place in the modern era.
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I think you could argue the opposite. The concept of pornography is a modern invention. Ancient statues and artwork that at one time were in public display, are now locked in museum storage because they are now considered pornographic. The Geek and Roman idols of Priapus are a good example. Victorian prudery is still alive in our society.
 
I would be concerned with false positives and what else it blocks.

I oppose any filtering from the ISP standpoint.

I have considered running Untangle at my house with content filtering though, but then its under MY control.
 
Can you imagine the form you gave to fill out?
With check boxes next to each item
Sex
Anal
Oral
MILF
Etc

So you could then filter out the boring tittie reveals etc :)
 
ROFL, did anyone actually listen to the clip? I about died laughing.

So the topic at hand is laughable at best, but the audio clip is pure gold. Porn is readily available on the net because of the "tube" sites, gtfo.
 
Access should not be blocked. People need to stop being so fucking obsessed with what other people do with their own time, money and genitals.
 
...but...but...we checked the "NO PORN" box! HOW DID LITTLE JOHNNY STILL GET TO THE PORNOGRAPHY?!
 
To a kid wanting porn, the porn filter will be just a minor inconvenience.

But, I think it's a good idea to give customers the choice.
 
I want all sex and violence to be taken off of the internet and television. When I plop my child in front of some sort of electrical device, I expect that device to raise my child appropriately. I can't find the *time/energy/motivation/sense-of-responsibility* to do it myself, so I expect everyone else to adjust their media to what i deem appropriate.

... but seriously, if it's an option, I don't see the harm as long as it ends there. I doubt it would work, considering the potential for non-porn sites having porn, and new websites opening every second. I would imagine manually changing the DNS server and/or proxy server in your router would completely bypass this anyway...
 
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