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David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

guardian.co.uk

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Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#241
post #104
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And on top of this, they want to create a database of all of child porn. ( What could possibly go wrong?)

If the database just contains hashes of offending images, I don't see the harm. Similar databases exist for copyrighted movies, television shows, and music. Edit: The harm is combining such a database with broad internet surveillance. Also, since the database is only hashes, false positives are likely. YouTube, who probably has the best content matching algorithms, can't even get it right all the time.

There are several harm factors which are hidden from plain view.

Commonly used hash algorithms are too rigid. A detection system shouldn't be bypassed just when a single bit gets flipped in a large file. The algorithm need to be fault tolerant, give few hash collision, and be proven by the passage of time. This of course a contradiction in terms.

It also need to be maintained and safe guarded against abuse. Who will watch the watchers, and how do we control what gets defined as offending images if there is no public reviews?

How is legal rights handled? How should appeals be handled, and peoples right to face ones accuser.

How do we control scope creep so "unwanted" political competition don't get suppressed under anti-propaganda laws? How is the slippery slope argument handled?

And last... but far from least, is the classical argument of 20th century political environment: Practicality. What does the cost-benefit analyses say about such filters and databases. Is the maintenance that those databases require cost more than they provide to society? What other options has been thought of, and how does the databases compare in efficiency and cost?

So if we think about it, maybe the harms are not that well hidden.

Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#244
post #190
post #12

> Every household in Britain connected to the internet will be obliged to declare whether they want to maintain access to online pornography These declarations will only be used to shame public figures once the list is leaked. > The possession of "extreme pornography", which includes scenes of simulated rape, is to be outlawed. Video footage of two consenting adults, acting out a scene, will be illegal to own. With t…

As if Britain didn't have real problems to deal with: - Long term unemployment is at a 17 year high. - Government debt is at 90 percent of GDP. - Violent crimes is worst in EU. For years Britain has feared loosing sovereignty to the European Union. To me it seems like they should maybe worry more about American influence with all the wars they fight, the spying on their citizens and now the neo puritanism.

For some perspective:

Rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than many other countries in Western Europe http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22275280

Homicide rate is less than loads of EU countries (and Canada!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona...

Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#245
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids?

I have kids, and I was a kid. My parents let me run quite unchecked, and at 12, a friend and I ran a BBS. This helped me learn about interactions and technology. My daughters, since they've been a couple years old, have had unrestricted access to the Internet via tablets and laptops. Quite frankly, I'm far more worried about the impact of shitty cartoons and crap Disney productions than I am them watching porn. Indee…

There are a lot of assumptions here.

(1) You know (or can tell) what content your kids are exposed to on the internet. Most kids I know are quite adept at keeping what they are upto hidden from their parents and that isnt unique to the current generation.

(2) Parents have a much better sense of content, kids are exposed to on TV (where content is regulated and rated for the most part) than on the internet.

(3)Even if you are an involved parent with the ability to discuss things with your daughter, you both arent living in isolation from society. There are easily more parents and kids that don't have such a relationship than the number that do. So if boys as young as 8-10, growing up in highly unsupervised environments, are constantly exposed to extreme porn, what do you think their expectations of women are going to be?

(4)Addiction. Everyone has weaknesses. And porn sites are getting better and better at keeping people hooked. Kids are the most susceptible.

Freedom has always come at a cost. And the main cost is equality. If all kids are born equal and all families are created equal sure give them all the freedoms they want. But that is unfortunately not the world we live in today nor is it getting any more equal any time soon.

Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#248
post #35
post #12

> Every household in Britain connected to the internet will be obliged to declare whether they want to maintain access to online pornography These declarations will only be used to shame public figures once the list is leaked. > The possession of "extreme pornography", which includes scenes of simulated rape, is to be outlawed. Video footage of two consenting adults, acting out a scene, will be illegal to own. With t…

> > The possession of "extreme pornography", which includes scenes of simulated rape, is to be outlawed. > Video footage of two consenting adults, acting out a scene, will be illegal to own. With this on the books, it seems a short hop to outlaw videos of simulated murder. Even without such an extension, aren't there plenty of Hollywood movies which include "scenes of simulated rape"?

In Bollywood (the Hindi equivalent of Hollywood in India) pretty much any mainstream commercial movie used to have at least one rape scene [1]. The formula had variations : villain tries to rape heroine and hero saves heroine, villain rapes hero's sister and hero takes revenge etc.

[1] http://health.india.com/diseases-conditions/international-wo...

Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#249
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have kids?

I have 4 children. I fear a world where my children cannot express themselves freely FAR more I do a world where I have to explain to my children that some people are just kind of weird... Censorship of the internet is NOT ok.

answered here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6082643

Re: David Cameron cracks down on online pornography

#250
> The possession of "extreme pornography", which includes scenes of simulated rape, is to be outlawed.

Irreversible?

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?

Once Upon a Time in the West?

A Clockwork Orange?

Titus Andronicus?

Remember when RIPA was only supposed to be for terrorism?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7341179.stm

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