With the rise in popularity of the Internet comes a corresponding rise in the number of people who want to regulate it and control its content. We have come full circle it seems, from the Acceptable Usage Policies of the bygone years to the prospect of having to adhere to government legislation and regulation. In the brief period of the last couple of years, after the AUPs all but disappeared we have truly enjoyed a freedom of speech and expression which has likely not been seen before.
Here in Canada, the CRTC (Canadian Radio Telecommunications Commission) is currently hearing all sorts of submissions on the "Information Super Highway". In the U.S. there are currently bills before the Federal and several State legislatures that are aimed directly at curtailing certain types of Internet traffic (and BBS traffic), mostly aimed at pornography but some aimed at hate too.
I get calls it seems every week from some media person, newspaper, radio, TV reporter, all wanting to get some angle on sex on the Internet. The latest one made the front page even!
When I comment to them that the amount of traffic on the Internet that is even minorly concerned with sex is less than 1%, and the number of questions I get about it is pushing 75% they mumble something about how controversy sells. I think I'm going to stop answering their questions about it.
Admittedly they have a point. The Internet doesn't lend itself very well to blocking out categories of information - there are too many involved and the technology was really made to make it easier to find things, not harder. In fact, I have heard it said that the Internet, being designed to work in a less than friendly technical environment, considers censorship to be an error and simply routes around it. This makes parents in the Internet world very nervous.
In these PC (Politically Correct) times even the Universities are struggling with the concepts of free speech. There have been regulations passed on some campuses that any talk about such things as differences between races, colors, sexes, religions etc is strictly forbidden! Not just in a prejudicial context, but even in the context of rational discussions in the classroom! This is attacking the very premise that many such institutions are built upon, freedom of expression and thinking. If these types of institutions can't continue their thousands of years old traditions what chance has the Internet?
Some of the legislation proposed would make the various Internet Service Providers liable for the content of the messages that pass through their computers - even though it is no longer possible to monitor even a small fraction of the traffic that even a small provider handles in a day without incurring costs that would simply put them out of business. If such legislation is passed and enforced - even if later shown to be unconstitutional or unenforceable on all - many such providers will simply pack up and get out of the business rather than face the prospect of having their valuable equipment siezed and spending untold hours in court and possibly in jail.
There are already cases of outright entrappment. One such case involves a provider that was not even in the same state as the complaintant - and he is now in jail! This ranks right up there with postal inspectors sending pornographic materials to unsuspecting people and then showing up at the door seconds after it has been delivered and as yet not even opened, and charging them with receiving pornographic materials in the mail! In many juresdictions - including it seems this one (BC Canada) - the typical response to a complaint about something that might (or might not) be illegal on a BBS or ISP system is to simply impound all the equipment that in the enforcing officers' minds might contain something of evidence - regardless of whether it has anything to do with the business at hand. Such things as children's games and modems are examples of this. In the face of such tactics (and I'm sure these are only just the beginning) who in their right mind would continue?
Over time, the Miss Grundys of the world have pushed to change clothing styles, hair styles, speech styles, educational curriculum, laws, regulations, business practices, and all manner of contact between the sexes. In all cases it has been towards an incredibly conservative pinnacle that the human race simply isn't capable of achieving, since to do so would undoubtably mean racial suicide as nobody would be born to follow that one perfect generation of abstinent, wholesome clones of herself. Our one saving grace seems to be that such radical attitudes are totally counter survival.
A Zygote is a Gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe (Lazarus Long aka Robert A. Heinlein)When asked what I thought might be the answer to the parents' problem of junior getting access to the seamier sides of the Internet, I had to respond that the best way I knew was to sit with the child and guide them; and educate them to recognize and bypass those things that didn't meet the parents' guidelines. We teach our children about the hazards of the street outside the home. We teach them about strangers. We teach them about all manner of dangers in their environment, why shouldn't we teach them about the dangers and problems of sex?
Around our home we have 2 precocious near teenagers (10 and 12). During their lives they have had their questions answered to (and beyond) the level that they could understand at the time - about everything! They have asked questions about all aspects of life, and have access to encyclopedias and books that answer in even more detail than we might. We have had discussions about all manner of people and circumstances, and we have tried to answer as objectively as we can.
While they have both been taught about road hazards, they still have had close calls. While they both have been taught about pills in the cupboard, one has had his stomach pumped. While they both have been taught "the facts of life" they still crowd around another neighbour kid's "dirty" magazines if they can. All of this is normal and none of it can be done away with if they are to grow up to be rational, caring, knowledgeable people. It is impossible to eliminate their inquisitivness and their experimentation. If we tried, it would simply hide in back alleys and dark corners, and cause frustration and other problems later in life; far better to have it out in the open where we and their teachers can explain and guide.
Maybe the Miss Grundys of the world simply can't stand the thought of anyone having a bad experience. Maybe they had one and couldn't cope with it. The thing to remember is that we learn best from our own experiences - and we shouldn't deny our children that opportunity. By all means, we should not plunge them straight into something like *.tasteless, but by the time they ask what it is all about, they should have some understanding that the world isn't sugar coated all the time. If they can conceive of the question, they can immagine some sort of answer, and the answer they imagine may well be worse than the real one.
It has to be applied before the diseases manifest themselves, and the best time is when we are young. Maybe a generation that has such an information source as the Internet is becoming will aid in curing some of the world's problems before they cause any more damage. The problem is to allow our children to use and learn from this new medium without either shocking them or allowing them to be drawn into some nefarious scheme by one of the diseased.
On the one hand, we can simply legislate the elimination of the symptoms - the sex, the tasteless, the erotic. I think that this is impossible, just like getting rid of prostitution and drugs. It won't work but we can congratulate ourselves that we did the 'right thing' and ignore the fact that another generation of potential deviates has been tantalized with rumors that get them hooked on the adreniline rush of perversion.
Instead, we could meet the problem head on, show the kids what the problems are and immunize them against the dangers. The problem with this solution is that it takes personal guidance and guts. It means we can't just put junior in front of the computer like we do the TV. It means we have to take the initiative and get involved ourselves in our children's growth and education. The nice thing about the Internet is that it actually can be fun to do this. It can be fun and educational. Maybe one of the things the Internet can do is bring the contemporary family back together as a learning and experiencing unit. Maybe it will reverse the trend of expecting others to do our job for us, and blaming them when it doesn't get done.
Richard Pitt
richard@wimsey.com
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