Ban porn on internet port 80?

[Fast 0]

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/213120/

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Huntsman to sign anti-porn resolution PDF | Print | E-mail
NATHAN JOHNSON - Daily Herald

A government study last year showed about 1 percent of Web sites are dedicated to it, but more and more employees -- and children -- are stumbling across it, and looking for it.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will hold a ceremonial signing of House Concurrent Resolution 3, which urges the U.S. Congress to step up and join the fight in keeping Internet pornography away from children and out of workplaces.

The measure stresses technology-based solutions to keep porn out of the hands of children and off work computers, though the idea is not without its critics.

The resolution states that current filtering technologies cannot do enough to stop access to porn, as some employees and children actively seek ways to bypass filters on their computers.

Instead, lawmakers have suggested that Congress work to change the nature of the Internet and allow for an "adult content channel" and a "family content channel", which would separate out the different types of content and allow filtering at its source.

The CP80 foundation, a longtime Internet pornography foe, was directly involved with the legislation. Its Internet pornography solution is part of the resolution.

Rebecca Jeschke, a spokeswoman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the idea of two channels has been brought up several times in the past 10 years, but hasn't happened because "it's a bad idea."

Jeschke said that the problem comes down to what content will be considered adult, what won't be, and who gets to make those decisions.

"There's always situations where an art site or a history site gets blocked," she said. Her group referees to the channel idea as a form of censorship, one that Jeschke thinks is very dangerous.

Both Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, the sponsor of HCR 3, and Matt Yarro, of the CP80 foundation, say they are not set on any one particular solution.

"We're interested in whatever works," Daw said. Yarro echoed a similar sentiment, saying that whether or not the solution he suggested gets implemented, it will at least "get the debate going."

Daw pointed out that this resolution has no legal effect, but is instead designed to put pressure on national lawmakers. He said he has spoken with some of Utah's congressmen, but said more can be done with the resolution in hand.

According to Yarro, the key part of this resolution is that it shows more than just a few groups are pushing to address the problems of Internet pornography. Yarro said that the goal is to let legislators know "that people are crying out. ... That this is the community."

"There is this assumption that you can't control it (the Internet)," Yarro said. "It's a toaster, we made it, we can fix it. ... We can solve the Internet pornography problem tomorrow if we decided to."

The movement to block the Internet porn seems to be gaining traction, with 13 other states, according to Yarro, putting forth similar resolutions.

Daw hopes that a ceremonial signing will encourage federal leaders to begin making changes.

Though Daw says that this will be an ongoing fight without an end in sight, he intends to find a way to "put another arrow in people's quivers."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[TylerDurden 0]

When we were kids we would read pornography. Now it's the Ikea Collection.

[kelpdiver 2]

it's always amusing when legislators with just a tiny bit of technical knowledge think they can solve 'problems.'

There's nothing magical about ports 80 or 443. You can run a web server on any port you like, though things may break if you use others under 1024. And if kids are defeating the filters, they'll defeat this sort of nonsense just as easily with a proxy server that listens on 80 and forwards to the porn port.

[steveorino 7]

I'm all for protecting innocent children from porn, but this seems like putting a hospital at the bottom of a bridge that is out.

steveOrino

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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it's always amusing when legislators with just a tiny bit of technical knowledge think they can solve 'problems.'

There's nothing magical about ports 80 or 443.

Except that having porn at a different magical port makes it trivial to block using functionality built into most consumer-grade cable/DSL modems and broadband routers and allows ISPs to make no-porn the default behavior.

It's a better idea than creating a new .xxx top-level domain.

[kelpdiver 2]

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it's always amusing when legislators with just a tiny bit of technical knowledge think they can solve 'problems.'

There's nothing magical about ports 80 or 443.

Except that having porn at a different magical port makes it trivial to block using functionality built into most consumer-grade cable/DSL modems and broadband routers and allows ISPs to make no-porn the default behavior.

Not really. The proxy server takes care of that. My tivo has a web server running on port 80 at home, on a terribly open version of httpd. I access it through my router on a high port, to another server inside my home, which forwards to port 80. There's nothing about 80 that is different from 8000. It's just a different socket.

It's a non starter anyhow, because the issues of compliance (esp non US) and fairness (breast exam site?) mean that the attempt would be DOA. But if it did, there would be port forwards established outside the US in no time at all.

And to repeat, if the children can defeat the filters based on url, they can defeat the filters based on ports. And it would be a PITA to the adult population having a porn80 and a pornssl443 added to browsers, all because parents are neglecting their children.

so would it be httpx://playboy.com and httpsx://hotvideos.com? People have enough trouble just remembering the http(s) combo.

[skydiver30960 0]

Step One: stop fucking SPAM.

At least I have to go looking (intentionally or unintentionally) for porn. Spam is bombarding us daily like cosmic radiation.

Step Two: help parents grow a pair and get responsible for their kids' raising and make 'em teach the kids to stay away from porn.

Step Three: take internet marketers who intentionally target kids for porn, roll them up with the folks who make SPAM, lock them in a room, and throw away the ROOM.

Elvisio "I'm sure it's as easily done as said" Rodriguez

[matthewcline 0]

Amen!

Stop the Spam and teach the kids, it s called Parenting and it doesn't take a village to do it!

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[georgerussia 0]

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I'm all for protecting innocent children from porn, but this seems like putting a hospital at the bottom of a bridge that is out.

By "protecting children" do you mean preventing children, who are not interested in porn, to see it?
Or to restrict teenagers, who are looking for porn, to see it?
The first task is easily achievable, and modern parental control software could do it.
The second task, however, is impossible to achieve. Was it impossible to get porn when we were teenagers? No, it was possible - and you'd think it is much easier to control physical entities like video tapes and pictures. Even in Soviet Union, where porn was illegal, it was not a big problem to find it. Sure, the quality was crappy - but still it was real porn.

I work in software development industry, and my company makes parental control software. I can say for sure it is not possible to create a bulletproof filter unless ALL content providers are willing to cooperate.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[Guest]

I'd rather see a separate top-level domain. It's easier to block an entire domain than it is to block a site or a port. Those who want to access it can do so; those with the technical savvy will find ways to bypass the controls via tunneling or other methods, but most of the biomass won't know how to do it.

Of course, the purveyors and consumers of smut will scream bloody murder, but so what? Let them.

The biggest issue, IMO, is compliance. It will be impossible to get a lot of smut-peddlers to cooperate, because just like the tobacco and entertainment industries, getting children hooked on their product is a key part of their business strategy - developing a lifetime consumer has to begin when they're very young.

mh
.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[Armour666 0]

But how do you enforce the non US based companies to comply? that’s the short sightedness in this whole thing it's the internet unless you pull a China in control your entire infrastructure none of these plans will work and the TDL controlled my the US is becoming less and less a factor in the global scheme of things.

SO this one time at band camp.....

"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."

[Richards 0]

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it s called Parenting and it doesn't take a village to do it!

Seems to be an unpopular truth, but you hit the nail right on the head.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[pinkfairy 0]

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Amen!

Stop the Spam and teach the kids, it s called Parenting and it doesn't take a village to do it!

Matt

You do have a point!

And how can it be, if stumbling across porn on the internet is such a big problem, that I have never accidentally opened a porn site?

I'm talking never ever, and I use the internet a lot.

It's about knowing how to use the internet. This is pretty much like finding your way around a big city. You wouldn't let a 6 year old find out about that on his own? He could end up anywhere.

Filters and legal bans are proven to not work, teaching children how to use the internet might work. Or maybe it's just a bad idea to leave children alone and unattended in front of a computer with an internet connection?

These suggestions require time and attention from the parents. Having some sort of "magic software" to do the work seems like an easy solution.

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

[miked10270 0]

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it s called Parenting and it doesn't take a village to do it!

Seems to be an unpopular truth, but you hit the nail right on the head.

Absolutely. My computer is in our living room. My "Parental-Control-Function" is accessed by looking over my kids' shoulders.
So far none of my kids have come up with a work-round to my "Palm-Software's" high-speed interface with their "Backside-Software" if I catch them doing something they shouldn't!

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[georgerussia 0]

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I'd rather see a separate top-level domain. It's easier to block an entire domain than it is to block a site or a port.

This is not true. What if the same web site is accessible through multiple domain names (uses virtual hosting by having multiple web sites on a single IP address), and only one of them ends up with .xxx? You block it if user accesses .xxx, but what if the same site is available through domain qweqwe.com? Or if user just types an IP address?

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Those who want to access it can do so; those with the technical savvy will find ways to bypass the controls via tunneling or other methods, but most of the biomass won't know how to do it.

This is not true as well. Like if software could be used illegally only by those who can hack it, there would be no piracy - the problem is that people share their hacks, allowing everyone to used an illegally obtained software. It is the same with the filters - technical savvy, who find ways to bypass them, publish those ways and at the end everyone knows how to do it.

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The biggest issue, IMO, is compliance.

Correct. We already have standards to make the filters bullet-proof. The problem is that not everybody is compliant to those standards.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[okalb 79]

My first thought when I read about this was the traditional slippery slope argument. Once the government steps and and starts regulating porn on the net, what is next. What about when the want to start regulating VIOP or any other internet technologies.

My second thought was, don't they realize that a big part of what the internet is today because of porn. A great deal of the advancements in internet technologies were developed by and or for the porn industry. Porn sites were the first to take credit cards on the net. They made great strides in the advancement of streaming video as well as video and image compression. Like it or not, porn built the internet.

My third thought was, does the government have any standing whatsoever when it comes to regulating the internet? To the best of my knowledge, they have no say in what people do and don't do on the net with regard to ports or any other technology.

Time flies like an arrow....fruit flies like a banana

[nathaniel 0]

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My third thought was, does the government have any standing whatsoever when it comes to regulating the internet?

Some gov'ts try. The internet is ruled by a set of quasi governmental entities that could in principle be nationalized; the US has resisted plans to spin them off to the UN.

China is currently spending gobs of money vainly trying to keep a lid on online dissent via monitoring and filtering. In the western world we seem more keen on regulating the consequences of the internet more than the means, and clobbering the means only when it's inextricably linked to the consequences (cf napster, non-infringing use, etc).

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[kelpdiver 2]

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My second thought was, don't they realize that a big part of what the internet is today because of porn. A great deal of the advancements in internet technologies were developed by and or for the porn industry. Porn sites were the first to take credit cards on the net. They made great strides in the advancement of streaming video as well as video and image compression. Like it or not, porn built the internet.

Let's not get carried away. Porn had it's heyday when it made VHS and VCRs. Since then its influence has been grossly overstated.

DARPA and the NSF made the internet. It would have gotten to where it is now without porn and with virtually no difference in implementation. I was using it before playboy.com came to be and www was a draft replacement for gopher. The usefulness was already clear - email, file transfer, information.

[okalb 79]

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My second thought was, don't they realize that a big part of what the internet is today because of porn. A great deal of the advancements in internet technologies were developed by and or for the porn industry. Porn sites were the first to take credit cards on the net. They made great strides in the advancement of streaming video as well as video and image compression. Like it or not, porn built the internet.

Let's not get carried away. Porn had it's heyday when it made VHS and VCRs. Since then its influence has been grossly overstated.

DARPA and the NSF made the internet. It would have gotten to where it is now without porn and with virtually no difference in implementation. I was using it before playboy.com came to be and www was a draft replacement for gopher. The usefulness was already clear - email, file transfer, information.

I am not arguing that the internet wouldn't exist without porn. I used to access the web from a Links browser in my unix shell account like any good geek did. All I am saying is that a lot of the cool technology that we have come to use like video streaming and image compression tools were developed and or financed by the porn industry. Of course the internet would exist without it. I just don't know in what form and I have to believe that it would have taken longer to get where we are if it weren't for the huge financial investments made by the porn industry. They saw a way to make a large profit by using certain technology and they spent the money to make it happen.

Time flies like an arrow....fruit flies like a banana

[VincentVL. 0]

I used to think (internet) porn was ok, but when I see all the filth that I'm subjected to on the net without even trying, I can only support measures that keep children from seeing internetporn.

Imo: parental control and informing kids > anything.

[Remster 24]

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DARPA and the NSF made the internet.

Along with a few other orgs, yes... But the comercial viability of the net was estabished with porn.

Remster

[okalb 79]

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DARPA and the NSF made the internet.

Along with a few other orgs, yes... But the comercial viability of the net was estabished with porn.

I think meant to reply to kelpdiver

Time flies like an arrow....fruit flies like a banana

[kelpdiver 2]

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All I am saying is that a lot of the cool technology that we have come to use like video streaming and image compression tools were developed and or financed by the porn industry.

Such as?

Are you suggesting they funded jpeg, png, mpeg2 and 4, flash, wmv (I think not), ssl, or what? Usenet certainly preceeded them.

BTW, it's spelled "lynx"

I'm sure they've contributed to the spam toolkits out there, but what useful contributions did they actually make?

[kelpdiver 2]

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DARPA and the NSF made the internet.

Along with a few other orgs, yes... But the comercial viability of the net was estabished with porn.

nope. The commercial viability was established with email. Lots of porn BBS's existed and met the smut need.

[Zenister 0]

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My second thought was, don't they realize that a big part of what the internet is today because of porn. A great deal of the advancements in internet technologies were developed by and or for the porn industry. Porn sites were the first to take credit cards on the net. They made great strides in the advancement of streaming video as well as video and image compression. Like it or not, porn built the internet.

Let's not get carried away. Porn had it's heyday when it made VHS and VCRs. Since then its influence has been grossly overstated.

DARPA and the NSF made the internet.

you are completely wrong about VHS/VCR.. Porn is bigger than ever and employs/entertains more people than ever before..

yes DARPA 'created' the Internet, but Porn paid for and paved its advancement and development. Porn made alot of 'business investments' possible because the risk/return was so low/high. ALOT of developing technologies came directly out of the desire for porn. I know 4 (now Major) hosting companies that started out as 'simple' Porn sites and expanded to 'acceptable business' soley because of the income generated by the Porn sites they started as..

Without Porn a good portion of the poeple who NOW use the internet would have never learned how to use a computer in the first place and the growth of the internet would have been significantly slower

the real answer is simple and has been stated above: YOU control what your children see and do.. dont expect technology to nanny your kids for you...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.