Comments on: Gonzales calls for mandatory Web labeling law

Attorney general says sexually explicit sites must be labeled or their operators risk jail time.

International application of websites labelling

Even I fully agree to support the idea to protect children, imposing such labelling internationaly is going to demonstrate the US Government extending its dominance in a new field (same for passing data to the CIA and NSA !) Guess that Verisign will propose to be the business providing the label (for a fee ? ) or carriers justifying additional charges for such services !

[booboo1243]

Ridiculous

As if we weren't wasting enough tax dollars already. And just how is this warning going to work, anyway? When the children this will supposedly protect arrive at this website, nothing would scream "You've got porn!" better than some government sponsored protective warning. I suppose kids would then decide to voluntarily leave that website? Anybody remember PMRC? Labels do not deter, they entice. Maybe next, adults can start wearing ratings badges so kids will know to stay away in case the adult decides to start swearing? Where will it end? Spend the money on the troops and protecting our country and, for God's sake, remove your head from your posterior. And I'm not even a Democrat...

gonzales/gop-cia-nsa-pentagon Inc. Censures net

Mr.minoritypunditGonzales;announces in ciaCity
Alexandria that he proposes labeling etc. Yes,pornography & explicit sexual pix (redundant)
should be labeled to avoid children access. But
close-ups of clothed genital areas?? WOW, why haven't 'they' (gop-cia-nsa-pentagon Inc.) LIMITED
Wall street, & all the major media "crotch shots"
& where are the Homeland for public events of "live crotch shots" or live spray-on jeans or
live suction butt-cracks?? Why not censure all public indecency? WHY- OBVIOUSLY THE NET IS THE ONLY "NEARLY FREE" EXPRESSION OF OPINION,ergo public resistance to this absurd war-psychoses
oligarchy. All the era since geo bush sr. has been
an assault on intelligence.

[OneWithTech]

A Simple 1 Paragraph Solution from Justin

Here, I'll make this one easy on the boy's on Capitol Hill and
spell it out in English, not geek speek.

1. Make ICANN create the .xxx and .sex domain names.

There, it's that easy for you's on Capitol Hill, the rest will come
in the form of software providers providing software to block
out .xxx and .sex domain names.

Get this, this isn't coming from a political person at all, I'm a
super computer genus that just happens to be normal (to a
degree), and built with some common sense and the ability to
fend off fools.

There's already a "red light' district on the web. All you have to
do is type sex in a google search. There's all the "red lights" you
want. So saying that creating a .xxx and .sex will create a virtue
"red light" district; well your right, it will. And if your over sea's
or in Vegas we can call it that -- a red light district.

But this is a digital world were talking about were kids are
getting exploited by simply using online service's that there
friends are using. Services like MySpace.com. After all, it is about
the KIDS isn't it?

What kind of effect will creating .xxx and .sex domains have on
the internet? Well for one, the porno sites wouldn't need to
conger up different' way's around the Governments' proposed
actions. They would just need to REGISTER, in FULL, WITH REAL
NAMES AND ADDRESS' of there ENTITIES that display X RATED
CONTENT.

So then when a web robot comes upon a site not following the
Government Regulations for Site Content, that site gets flagged.
The robot would be looking for common traits in X rated
websites. These traits would get matched against a criteria
written specifically for this task.

Say one piece of criteria would be for the robot to check the
domain name against a know registration of .xxx and .sex web
sites. If a robot finds that a site isn't within written criteria the
robot would proceed to flag the domain name. Another robot
would come by and look for specific contact information on the
flagged site. That contact information would go into a database
and the site owner flagged.

If the site owner didn't respond to the generated email and snail
male to the contact information then the ISP or Hosting Service
would be required to IMMEDIATELY SUSPEND the site until the
owner request "REASON for SITE SUSPENSION" the authorities can
take over from that point.

Then if the site owner want's the flagged site back up he/her
would be required to PROPERLY REGISTER the site. Then he/she
would have to request a SITE REVEIW in which the robot's would
go back out and analyze the site before getting approved.

Wow, I laid out! Of course you have to drill this concept down to
Government Level; but I gave you a basis in buy which there
would be easier regulation if .xxx and .sex domains were
adopted.

I've been doing this for a while!
~Justin
Tech01.net

[MisterFlibble]

Just as much as encroaching on the first amendment as Torture Czar.

You are advocating for the governemnt to "FORCE" where certain types of speech and expression are allowed. That really is no different than what Gonsalez wants. And I don't belief life is "all about kids"... we do tend to grow up into adults, there are more than one cycle in ahumans life. Limiting the other cycles of life to that of one in particular, is very backwards thinking. Afterall, if IT WAS all about kids, then why are we fighting wars? Maybe, for our kids saftey, we should stop starting wars with the rest of the world. Just a thought.

[maxwis]

Does'nt Gonzales Have Enough REAL Work To Do?

Boy, Gonzales must have run out of real work to do to be so consumed with online Playboy magazines. I guess he has already rooted put organized crime, shut down the MS 13 gang, and stopped the tidal wave illegal immigration. Good job Roberto. By the way, since you are concerned about children, how about shutting down Victoria Secret's lascivious window displays in shopping malls. The window mannequins look like Dutch hookers.

[umbrae]

Won't you see the content before the warning

This just proves the Bush administration is just clueless about technology. I already got the crotch shot when the warning is given, so its useless. Most likely, my eye is going to be drawn to the crotch shot and I will never notice the warning at all.

Sounds like a way to fine a bunch of websites to fund our next war.

[Blackspeak]

What will those jackasses in the Bush&Co

think of next?... They're from one hair-brain bogus scheme to the next... This is the most asinine proposal, if there ever was one... They've lost their base (Bush disapproval rate @ 75%)...Now they're in the death spiral to nowhere...

[cpudrewfl]

like there is not more to worry about

Please there should be a government warning on Bush. He will lead to Bankrupting oil/gas prices and will cause your child to die to fight for a meaningless war.

There is much more in the world to worry about then porn!!!!!!!!!!!

[cpudrewfl]

like there is not more to worry about

Please there should be a government warning on Bush. He will lead to Bankrupting oil/gas prices and will cause your child to die to fight for a meaningless war.

There is much more in the world to worry about then porn!!!!!!!!!!!

[agreddon]

Before you take on this

Why don't you investigate Dubya and Tricky Dicky before you try to make getting my porn harder.

[ericblr0716]

This is just freaking rediculous

Wouldn't the surfer be tipped off that www.*****.com is NOT about
fluffy little kittens? Or how about when you go to wihtehouse.com
and you see someone spreadeagled on the front page? Wouldn't
that clue you into the fact tghat this is NOT a government website.
Give me a break!!! I swear this is just another reason for the
Government to make more money to line their pockets!!

[deylat2]

A Christian Talibanesque Gonzalez

It was to be expected: Gonzalez seting upthestage for a Christian version of Taliban Sharia laws! And we thoughtMacCartyism was th lowpoint of America'shistory bu GW Bush and his gang have made bomberJoe look like an angel!

[martincnet]

Remember? The Bush administration blocked an international approach

This problem has to be solved on an international level but this was not a desired solution by the Bush Administration. Therefore, they come up with this non sense fix.

Remember: Pressure from conservative Christian groups in the US forced the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) once again scrap the plan for a new internet "domain" .xxx for pornography a few month ago. This system was highly welcomed by countries all over the world and was easy to implement and parental control.

[tearfang]

ease on implimentation

"This system was highly welcomed by countries all over the world and was easy to implement and parental control." The system created a .xxx domain it did not restrict porn to only use the .xxx domain. There is no way porn companies would voluntarily give up their .com domains the .xxx would be an additional domain. Sure it would be easier to filter the additional .xxx domains but that doesn't make it any easier to filter out porn as a whole because you still have all the .com sites as well.

[tryoneon]

Probably all about money not protection at all

Who knows maybe some people want this, so internet goes the same way cable did. If you want censor free internet you will probably end up paying a premium price in the future...another price for freedom.
That being said I pay almost 50 bucks a month for basic cable and all I get is commercial laden T.V. further censored by the FCC. Its not what I paid for and not what I want but I cant afford to add the premium channels.

[hoatzin]

Probably meant to distract our demographic from Iran

Internet users as a whole are better-educated- and therefore more liberal- than TV watchers.

There has been a lot of noise lately among the bloggers about Bush's apocalyptic intentions to invade and/or nuke Iran.

So, I think this stupid law is just bait to get the geeks angry about something completely irrelevant- instead of massive fallout casualties, WWIII in the Middle East, and the END of the United States as a viable nation.

[LibertyOne]

Smart = Liberal is BS

Hey, this better educated is liberal crap is just that, crap. Liberals by definition are lesser beings simply because they refuse to the follow the rules. Liberals say screw the rules, we want it our way. Conservatives -- I DID NOT SAY REPUBLICANS -- Conservatives in general are morally superiour simply cuz they actually follow the rules.

[LibertyOne]

Liberal = Smart = BS

Yo, don't be an insulting jerk. Saying liberals are better educated is just plain dumb. Liberals by definition are inferiour people because they do not follow the rules. How's that smart? Conservatives -- I DID NOT SAY REPUBLICANS -- conservatives by definition generally follow the rules.
Liberals, basically, are the kids that want 4 strikes and you're out, 8 yards for a first down and that kind of thing.
Rules really suck to liberals. Another way to look at this is: How many smart people you know that ask the government for help? Good, smart people figure it out on their own. Dumb, bad people look for the govt for help. In this regard, Republicans are increasingly as screwed up as Democrats. Although, dems have people like Pelosi and Kennedy and that dumb skank in Georgia. Yikes.

[zealot144]

The real danger

Forcing pornographers to go offshore is not the real problem. Nor is the passing of a law that cannot be enforced. The real danger is requiring ISP's to track client web usage. Isn't this exactly like following every piece of mail sent or received by everty citizen? How about a tap on every phone? Why not record every cell call? The Graham Leach Bliley act was created to protect privacy, but precious little privacy remains.

Any requirement to track internet usage and report it to the government is worrisome indeed. Have those of us responding to this article marked ourselves to be watched? Will some government agency be asking Yahoo and Cable One to follow my internet usage? Will they pry open my e-mail account?

Freedom of speech is not the issue. Freedom of any kind is the issue.

Our best have not been able to find Osama Bin Laden. But they can sure find me. Or anyone else visiting this web site.

This is NOT an issue for debate. It is an unconcienable encroachment on my "inalienable" rights. Am I not the king of my castle?

George Orwell was just a couple decades too early.

[GOoD_dEVIL]

Advice for porn addicts

If you are addicted to porn, do not get married. You will end up in divorce court. Porn does not promote intimacy, it destroys it. One of the "dirty little secrets" the porn purveyors don't want you to know about.

See the Charlie Sheen lawsuit Denise Richards filed for details on the "horrors of porn".

[doobster]

Advice for porn addicts

Give me a break. Are you another one of these thumpers who think if your husband looks at a photo of a naked women he's cheating on you?

Good grief. Porn is as old a mankind. It's religious zealots who are causing the most harm by guilt tripping people into serious neurosis' because they're convinced God is staring down at them with a giant frown on his face and wagging his finger at them.

If it wasn't for the Christian Taliban in US, perhaps we Americans would have so many mental hangups, especially about things sexual.

[duggerdm]

dog and lived / god and devil - all equally meaningless word coincidnences

You get far too much crap information from pop TV. Your statement isn't supported by statistics or science. In fact, statistics tell us that those countries with more liberal sex laws - including more liberal porn laws have lower marriage failure rates and fewer sex crimes - in or out marriage. This country had a 50%+ marriage failure rate long before porn made headlines in mainstream media. I had a subsciption to Playboy for 32 years of my 32 year marriage. When we divorced it was because I finally stopped trying to change my wife into someone I had something in common with. She is a fine person, but personality wise we were total mismatches - which was the opinion of the marriage counselor picked by my ex-wife. If our society spent more time talking with its children about intimacy, sex, passion, friendship, love - their differences and as well about complimentary personality types - divorces rates would go down. However, most healthy heterosexual men will still enjoy looking at the naked bodies of females of child bearing ages. Its in wired. Try to understand it as natural and get over it.

[doobster]

This Administration is getting really SCARY

I'm sorry to say I voted for these religious zealots twice because I just don't trust the democrats with our national defense. But I swear, Bush and Co and getting more like the Taliban every day. They talk about securing our borders but don't. They talk about preserving our freedom but try to pull tricks like this.

I'm done supporting republicans. All they do is lie and sell us out to big business and their rich buddies who want to keep their cheap mexican maids and gardeners.

I'm voting Libertarian from now on..win or lose at least I'll be voting my conscience.

[george_ou]

Wait, you can still get all the porn you want

Wait, you can still get all the porn you want so what's the problem. There is ZERO censorship here. All we're asking is that a porn site labels itself as porn so it's easily filtered if you don't want to see porn. Heck even if you wanted to see porn, your Office computer might not want to see it.

I can understand that you might want to see porn, but no one is going to block it from you. And even if they did block porn, are they really like the "Taliban" who killed women for adultery and sponsored real terrorists who would take your actual life and not just your beloved porn? C?mon now, wise up. Sheesh!

[gstorms85]

Another government scam

This has nothing to do with "protection" and everything to do with the government trying to pull yet another scam under the pretense of "protecting" people. Its going to be illegal not to have a government rating on an adult site, of which of course theyre going to CHARGE A FEE to have your site reviewed and rated. What do you think, they're going to do it for free?

[rdsoxfan]

This is long overdue

This sort of legislation is long overdue. Our children (and a lot of adults) need to be protected from the pornographic garbage that is on the internet. There needs to be a much better way to allow parents (and adults) to reliably filter out pornography. Adults who want to look at it should still be able to look at it (as long as it does not involve children) and those who don't should be able to reliably filter it out. Most importantly, parents should be able to reliably filter out pornography from their children's internet experience. Forcing pornographers to label their websites would be a big step towards this. Thank you President Bush and thank you Attorney General Gonzales!!!

[Munkaymon]

Smoke Screen of Politics...

The Justice Dept. is usuing the sensitive issue of child pornography as a vehicle to obtain the internet use records of all Americans as a basis to add to or build a data base profile of everyone that they can.
In time, such data will be used to define and catagorize what they deem your morality to be.

Given the divisive moral construction of those in currently power, imagine what they could to to your life with such data at hand.

[Munkaymon]

Smoke Screen of Politics...

The Justice Dept. is usuing this sensitive, hot-button issue of child pornography as a vehicle to obtain the internet use records of all Americans to add to or build a data base profile of everyone that they can.
In time, such data will be used to define and catagorize what they deem your morality to be.

Given the divisive moral construction of those in currently power, imagine what they could to to your life with such data at hand.

[Munkaymon]

Smoke Screen of Politics...

The Justice Dept. is usuing this sensitive, hot-button issue of child pornography as a vehicle to obtain the internet use records of all Americans to add to or build a data base profile of everyone that they can.
In time, such data will be used to define and catagorize what they deem your morality to be.

Given the divisive moral construction of those in currently power, imagine what they could to to your life with such data at hand.

[Bill Dautrive]

Move to china

Where you will be 'protected' from having to see anything or even think.

If you are an adult and need protection from porn, shoot yourself now, or at the very least, get fixed so your stupid genes can not be passed on to an innocent child.

If a child is in need of protection from porn, well that is the parents job. If the parent is to lazy to monitor their kids, then how can any shortsighted government restriction going to help?

It is not the job of the government, businesses, or anyone else to "protect" you from things that you should be able to protect yourself from.

Don't like porn? Don't look at it. Problem solved.

Don't want your kids to look at porn? Be a parent and monitor their activities. Problem solved.

To lazy and stupid to take responsibility? Ask the government to do it for you, but do not be surprised when China is more free then the former USA.

[PzkwVIb]

Free speech might hurt your feelings to.

If you feel something is objectionable look away or click the back button on your browser. The Government is not your nanny, and your phobias, hangups and prudery do not trump my free speech rights. You are probably one of those bozos who want museums to put shorts and bras on the classical statues. And you feel strongly enough about it to be willing to give away are First Amendment rights.

[MisterFlibble]

Are you not aware that it's already against the law?

Are you not aware that undrage porn is already against the law? Hence, no need for further legilation.

Also, you do realise what precident this sets? Sorry, but commerce clause and other commerce laws doesn't make disticitions for porn buinesses, this would effect EVERY commercial site, including NEWS websites, like CBS, ABC, and NBC, the government would be able to tell ANY commercial website to do ANYTHING. But I guess people like you just don't care, as long as those "infidels" don't get to look at "boobies", right?

And it's also disenguinious to use that old rhetoric of "think of the children". That does not make for a substantial argument.

[Stan Kee]

Message has been deleted.

[donkihoti]

Entire Proposal available?

Does anyone know where to find the entire Gonzalez proposal regarding this? I wouldn't be surprised if there are some other provisions here that would enable them to rate dissent as something nefarious...
With the current move by the big telecoms to allow tiered communications and gatekeeping, it would be instructive to see how this proposal would mesh with that..
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power."- Benito Mussolini