The Price of Indecency
While some internet service providers back in the States are currently attempting to eliminate the debate on whether “information wants to be free” by charging net commerce providers for expedited service, i.e., giving Yahoo! or whomever preferential treatment of its transmissions, other than making a lot of people mad and possibly eliminating any remaining rationale for Congress to keep taxation off, the other internet debate rages on: how to protect children and other sensitive citizens from the evil content available on-line. Here in Australia, we’re lucky to have Labor leader Kim Beazley, who’s come up with a plan to filter the internet before it gets to your home. Interestingly, as pointed out in the Daily Flute, this is in large part a plan previously developed by the Liberals, in 1999. What’s that song by the Who? Meet the new boss, blah, blah, blah. Listen, Kim-o, mate, I’ve got an idea: why not let people decide they don’t want to go to porn sites all on their own? Nobody forces anyone to click any link in a Google search just because it promises nekkid pitchers of Jessica Alba or whomever. Of maybe we just let the ISP’s charge a premium to go to the brown-paper-wrapper sites?