Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Bizarre attempt at internet censorship

Web Censorship for Dummies. Annalee Newitz, AlterNet. Posted January 3, 2006. Here's an interesting story about CP80, a lobbying group pushing the "Internet Channel Initiative," a "technology solution" designed to limit pornography. Their idea is to put all pornography on one "channel" (i.e., port) and so be able to limit access to that port. However, this television metaphor doesn't fly because ports are used to differentiate types of communication protocols (http, smtp, etc.), not kinds of content. But beyond the technological problems with their initiative, check out the corporate sponsors -- amazon, iTunes, Best Buy, Sony Musci Store, Hickory Farms(?!) etc. This is even more troubling because these companies have alot of power and pull and they obviously aren't even thinking about the free speech implications of this "initiative", only the bottom line. This is the epitome of corporate irresponsibility. I think these companies should be at the top of the "do not shop at" list!...

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