Triple X Web Site Addresses, Birth Control, Sex Education and Heads in the Sand
The committee that is in charge of internet addresses has proposed creating a new .xxx extension for adult web sites. An eminently sensible idea. It is being opposed by people who are arguing it would "legitmize" pornography on the internet. Let's look at the underlying facts and problems.
The first incontestable fact is that, according to many studies, there is a great deal of vile pornography of the worst sort on the internet (as well as a lot of hate speech, but that's a topic for another day). Its there. Its viewed. Its often beyond the control of U.S. government agencies as the hosting sites are either unknown or offshore.
The second incontestable fact is that if you use e-mail or browse the internet, the probabilities that you will accidentally run into one or more of these sites is pretty high. Even the most selective and careful browser may run into such sites...even if one uses an information disabling "net nanny" to try to protect from such sites. For those of us who do not use net nannies, the probabilities are even higher.
Many internet users, and I am one of them, would much prefer not having to deal with this sort of material in our day to day browsing. It strikes me that the XXX web suffix would help greatly with this. The purveyors of this material don't need or want me coming to their web site because I would just tie up band width, would not give them the money (or attention) that they want, and would probably like to provide a simpler method of contact for those who do want this material. I would like this because it would be very easy to put together a filter which would filter out those .xxx websites and thereby allow me to avoid them without filtering otherwise valuable content. It would also help me with my minor's supervised browsing of the internet by greatly reducing the probability of their contact with this material. In sum, its a win win game.
What is the counter argument? As far as I can tell the counter arguments are twofold. The first is that the .xxx suffix "legitimizes" this stuff and the second is that it would provide "deviants" access to this material. The problem that I have with both of these arguments is that it fails to recognize reality. The first reality, as set forth above is that this material is available and accessible right now. It is not concentrated in a single domain, but rather appears in a broad range of domains -- from .com to .edu to .org.. And a single mistake can result in exposure to the material. During the early days of Bush II, members of the supreme court installed executive were going on national news shows and noting that they could be contacted at whitehouse.COM, when in fact, the actual address of the White House is whitehouse.gov. Whitehouse.com was a site featuring quite questionable material. No one would, however, have mistaken whitehouse.XXX for whitehouse.gov. The creation of a .xxx domain is not going to create a whole new set of pornography on the internet, it is going to result in the migration of the material to a single domain. The second reality is that this kind of material is going to be available to deviants whether or not we have a .xxx domain. This information has been available to deviants for years and will no doubt continue to be available for years to come. And pretending that it is not is just that, pretending.
The first incontestable fact is that, according to many studies, there is a great deal of vile pornography of the worst sort on the internet (as well as a lot of hate speech, but that's a topic for another day). Its there. Its viewed. Its often beyond the control of U.S. government agencies as the hosting sites are either unknown or offshore.
The second incontestable fact is that if you use e-mail or browse the internet, the probabilities that you will accidentally run into one or more of these sites is pretty high. Even the most selective and careful browser may run into such sites...even if one uses an information disabling "net nanny" to try to protect from such sites. For those of us who do not use net nannies, the probabilities are even higher.
Many internet users, and I am one of them, would much prefer not having to deal with this sort of material in our day to day browsing. It strikes me that the XXX web suffix would help greatly with this. The purveyors of this material don't need or want me coming to their web site because I would just tie up band width, would not give them the money (or attention) that they want, and would probably like to provide a simpler method of contact for those who do want this material. I would like this because it would be very easy to put together a filter which would filter out those .xxx websites and thereby allow me to avoid them without filtering otherwise valuable content. It would also help me with my minor's supervised browsing of the internet by greatly reducing the probability of their contact with this material. In sum, its a win win game.
What is the counter argument? As far as I can tell the counter arguments are twofold. The first is that the .xxx suffix "legitimizes" this stuff and the second is that it would provide "deviants" access to this material. The problem that I have with both of these arguments is that it fails to recognize reality. The first reality, as set forth above is that this material is available and accessible right now. It is not concentrated in a single domain, but rather appears in a broad range of domains -- from .com to .edu to .org.. And a single mistake can result in exposure to the material. During the early days of Bush II, members of the supreme court installed executive were going on national news shows and noting that they could be contacted at whitehouse.COM, when in fact, the actual address of the White House is whitehouse.gov. Whitehouse.com was a site featuring quite questionable material. No one would, however, have mistaken whitehouse.XXX for whitehouse.gov. The creation of a .xxx domain is not going to create a whole new set of pornography on the internet, it is going to result in the migration of the material to a single domain. The second reality is that this kind of material is going to be available to deviants whether or not we have a .xxx domain. This information has been available to deviants for years and will no doubt continue to be available for years to come. And pretending that it is not is just that, pretending.
The foes of the .xxx domain have a great deal in common with the foes of birth control and sex education. The foes of birth control seem to believe that an absence of birth control will result in more intelligent decisions about when and how to have a baby, ignoring the fact that birth control is the very tool that allows one to make the decision. The foes of sex education believe that not teaching about sex will mean that teenagers will not have sex, ignoring the fact that all that not teaching about sex does is shifting the education from trained professionals (the teacher) to other students with the resultant problems. The foes of the .xxx domain believe that if they stop this domain, the internet will be magically cleansed of pornography.
They are sticking their head in the sand or holding a hankerchief over their eyes. They are pretending. And as this is not magic fairy land, pretending does not work.
Do we want to make sure that individuals make smart and rational decisions about when and where to have (or not have) children? Then we need to provide birth control.
Do we want to make sure that Teenagers make the smartest and safest choices after reviewing accurate information, then we need to provide sex education. And hopefully, most of the teenagers will make the smart choice and engage in abstinence. But many teenagers will not and need to know how to keep from ruining their lives.
And if we want to help reduce the unintentional exposure to pornography on the internet we need to support the .xxx domain.
posted by prophet of doom | 2:29 PM
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