back to article Pressure group demands UK apes China net filter plan

"All computers should be provided with net filtering software loaded - and the default position for such filters should be on." That is the view of Miranda Suit, one of the organisers of Mediamarch - a voluntary group seeking to reduce the harmful effects of the media on our children, families and society. Ms Suit was speaking …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lololol

    Man more Mary Whitehouse wannabes. What the hell is porn addiction? I'm guessing it's a baseless category created by mary whitehouse wannabes on the flimsiests of evidence to support their deviant interpretation of humanities ability to deal with the life without the influence of a central authority to look after it.

    Listen, if you want a total security nation go live in North Korea - otherwise sod off and shut up.

  2. A B 3
    Alert

    Use in moderation

    Like everything moderation is usally best, otheerwise it will fall off.

  3. Tony S

    Offline?

    I note that the Mediamarch website is not currently available - perhaps their site is being censored?

    I am not in favour of state interference in our lives - particularly when the people doing the interfering are such a corrupt and amoral group as we have recently found them to be.

    I have no doubt that if they were allowed to make it law that software to block sections of the Internet had to be installed, we would very quickly find that they added other types of sites to the naughty list.

    The only thing that comforts me is that they are so inept, that any software that they introduced would no doubt prove to be useless for the job and we would be easily able to bypass it.

  4. Paul 25

    "a global agreement on what constitutes acceptable content"

    Riiight, so you are going to get the Iranians and Dutch to agree on what is acceptable?

    Can I have some of whatever they are taking, it's obviously strong stuff.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    sadly

    Sadly it doesn't seem to be an area that's received much research and the only studies I can find have been put together to support the censorship faction and none have performed their own research.

    All reitterate the same line (porn makes you anti-woman, damages relationships, makes you more likely to get into s&m, so on and so forth.) Also everyone on the sites has pretty much the same opinion.

  6. Dave Ross
    Stop

    I would just like to demand

    that people like this shut the hell up!

  7. johnB
    Coat

    Typical busybody

    "There have been cases..." Typical politician use of unsupported "data" to justify sticking their nose into other peoples business.

    It's a pity these self-appointed busybodies can't get it through their skulls that if someone wants porn, they'll find it. Always could, always will.

    But that doesn't justify interfering with the other 99%+ of the populations PC's.

    And even if the technology could be effectively fitted (unlikely), who would determine what was OK & what was not ? Wacki Jacki's hubby ?

  8. Ian 35

    Look at their `faith'

    mediamarch heartily endorses the Christian aspirations which have been publicly displayed, ever since 1931, at BBC Broadcasting House in London. We recognise that these are in accordance with Philippians 4:8, and the wording used is as follows:

    "This Temple of the Arts and Muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting in the year 1931, (Sir John Reith being Director General). It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace and purity may be banished from this house and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful, and honest and of good report, may tread a path of wisdom and uprightness."

    mediamarch and its supporters are committed to campaigning on behalf of all those who are being harmed as a result of the increasingly explicit violence, sex and bad language in media content. Those affected range from both the victims and the perpetrators of media-fuelled crime, through to couples struggling with dysfunctional relationships, and to young girls who become anorexic in their pursuit of stick-thin 'beauty'.

    "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)

  9. Catkins
    Linux

    Porn Porn Pron

    KATE

    The internet is really really great

    TREKKIE MONSTER

    For porn

    KATE

    I’ve got a fast connection so i don’t have to wait

    TREKKIE

    For porn

    KATE

    Huh?

    There's always some new site,

    TREKKIE

    For porn!

    I browse all day and night

    TREKKIE

    For porn!

    KATE

    It's like i’m surfing at the speed of light

    TREKKIE

    For porn!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Oi, Mediamarch...

    ...ODF right O.

    That is all.

  11. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. Rob Crawford

    Errr

    What happens if an "addicted" person turns the filter off, or will mediawhatever be the only ones allowed to turn off the filter?

  13. Stef 2
    Flame

    If she likes Nazi Germany that much

    I didn't have a nanny as a child and don't need one now, thank you.

  14. Jamie Kitson

    Moral Minority

    Son, when you hear "sexually deviant tendencies", reach for your gun.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Well why not indeed.

    It wouldn't bother me as someone who has never bought a PC, just bits. Oh though I did buy a netbook - but that's had so many OS reinstalls any pre-loaded software is long gone.

    Now if you want to supply it pre-installed with copies of Windows or Linux, then I'll be up in arms... :)

    As it is, this will only affect those without the technical know-how to remove/disable the software, and perhaps for other reasons such people could do with an extra safeguard against the darker side of the 'net.

    Paris because I'm sure she has her own regrets about that side of the 'net!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Laughable

    Hmmm... and foisting your own views on to the rest of a population that couldn't care less if your head was up your arse is another addition ... sadly one that is lost on these pressure groups. Where is the line between freedom to choose and restricting others who hold more liberal views?

    You know ... for all my decades of computing and browsing, I only actually come across porn when I actually hunt for it. Well, with the exception of a well known failed spin off search engine which no one uses anyway and I ask you ... what kind of filter is going to save our children from a search engine?

    The only way to properly filter pornography is to pull the plug on the Internet ... anything else is technologically hopeless.

  17. David Edwards

    Phorm

    Diddnt take them long to start spending that 15m they got tother day.

  18. Julian I-Do-Stuff

    Have a hot load...

    I think this might explain Vesuvius in AD79 then - divine retribution for all those wall paintings/mosaics in Pompeii/Herculaneum, where the the inhabitants were notorious for having been corrupted by the vile pornography they were obviously so addicted to.

    If only the Romans had had a (filtered) internet (Pliny would have been safe on dial-up anyway)

    c..f Lehrer Tom "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd"

  19. lucky13
    Flame

    boo hiss

    The usual list of complaints associated with articles that promote an organisation's goal rather than sensible debate.

    1. ‘evidence’ is a strong word. More appropriate would be ‘research which suggests’

    2. Does this research establish cause and effect? Do ‘sexual deviants’ look at extreme porn… or does extreme porn create sexual deviants?

    3. Porn addiction brought on by ease of access via the internet… where to start with this one. So is it now all porn or just extreme porn their targeting? How many ‘couples’ are complaining of this? Is it one person or both ‘parties’ that are coming forward? Has one been caught watching porn and gone “um…er… IT’S AN ADDICTION I swear… once a month and on birthdays is fine for me… please just give me an easy life!”?

    So UK.gov what is bad for me next week? Accessing the periodic table online, because I may be able to work out how to build a bomb?

    The ususal list of complaints assosiated with articles that promote an organisation's goal rather than sensible debate.

  20. Gary Owen
    Stop

    Not just porn!!

    Their website states they are against 'explicit violence, sex and bad language'. OK, why not hardwire in the BIOS of every new PC to set CBeebies as the default search engine?

    Fuckwank! There - that's the Register done for with this new regime.

  21. SuperTim
    Paris Hilton

    Porn addiction?

    I dont think it would take an addict long to get around the porn filters somehow. I mean, that assumes that they even get their porn from a website, and not from peer-to-peer, which is rich in content of smut (so i have been told by a friend...ahem).

    Paris, because she needs a porn filter to look at her own holiday snaps!

  22. Ally J

    God help us, every one....

    We're already on the slippery slope, but this will just make it steeper. We've already seen what happens when people run butthurt to the IWF over an image on Wikipedia - can you imagine the chaos that will happen if Government Departments get involved in similar censorship exercises?

    And 'porn addiction'? What? The moral lobby groups tend to be very big on sweeping statements, but not so good on cold, hard evidence. There's not yet been a definitive study that proves cause and effect for porn and sex crimes. (Admittedly, that doesn't mean there isn't a link, but the theory isn't yet supported.) Mediamarch are just spouting rubbish in the hope that some people take it at face value.

  23. Adam Foxton
    Boffin

    Sorry, what?

    So now "sexual deviancy" is a risk? As in a dangerous thing that should be limited and mitigated, rather than just a difference, a deviation from the norm? So some people are into kinky shit (literally in some cases)- why's that wrong? Okay, you may not want to take part in it- so don't. Same as you might not like wearing neon pink at a funeral- it's a deviation from the norm, some people probably find it offensive. But it's pretty much harmless and in no way detracts from your ability to mourn or wear black while doing it (except for this time, when you're wearing neon pink).

    And giving someone a release for their pent-up tension is a dangerous thing? An analogy- which would you rather was pointed at your eye- a coiled up spring ready to burst free of its confines in a pretty much unpredictable way, or an unstressed spring?

    The unstressed spring is still dangerous, but it's predictable and controllable, unlike the compressed spring which could fly off in any direction.

    People with porn are less likely to commit sexual offences than those without porn but with similar urges.

    On their third point, I've found that during intimate relationships it's been able to give me a better insight into things to try. And so far it's not let me down!

    And which "rape myth" is this? The one about all intercourse being rape, or the one about every man being born with a genetic imperative to rape?

    Also, the 'net filter is a ridiculous idea as it would be used to block out legitimate discussion and you'd end up getting rid of information on various things- can you imagine if the Vatican got a hold of this? "Nope, Contraceptives are wrong. Ban all mention of them".

    Nope, the best 'net filter there is is that there are so many contradictory views on the Internet that none of them can gain precedence over another without a pretty impressive movement- see Annonymous / Scientology.

    As for the icon, I need glasses if I'm going to see well enough to shave my palms...

  24. Ray0x6
    Dead Vulture

    Waste of air.

    I just went and checked out their website. Their manifesto is unchanged from 2004. Their September 2008 update has been printed on paper, scanned and then uploaded as a PDF. I think that pretty much says everything about their commitment to the Internet.

    People like this really do make me wonder about their motives. I have a hunch they want to shout about something, anything, then pick whatever seems to be the one which will generate the most publicity. Why don't they pick a topic that actually matters, say... nuclear arms, HIV, corporate crime, government restrictions of freedom, overfishing, atmospheric pollution, etc. etc. etc. instead of one that offends their petty moral sensibilities? The cynic in me wants to believe it is because it will generate column inches and get their names in the media. But that would be just TOO ironic.

    Small minded, useless idiot.

  25. Ray0x6

    OH!

    They're all religious! Well, that explains everything. Back to sleepzzzzzzzzzz

  26. mrweekender
    Paris Hilton

    Hmmm...

    ...won't "people" just find a way to circumvent the filtering? Lets face it those that really want to look at porn will probably find a way to look at porn, be it on the net or in a magazine, etc, etc. Education is the way forward, not heavy handed, big brother, dictatorial solutions.

    Also how could the government ever back this policy when members of their own cabinet have been known to indulge.

    Paris, cause she likes to star......so I've heard.

  27. Ken Hagan Gold badge

    Great timing...

    ...since the flaw in China's solution has today been demonstrated. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8094026.stm)

  28. Ben Klumaster
    Thumb Down

    Optimism

    "His preferred solution is for a global agreement on what constitutes acceptable content". Wow, I'm glad someone finally came up with a practical idea. And to think, the solution was so simple all along!

  29. Tony Paulazzo
    Flame

    If

    you take away the freedom of choice, you've taken away freedom, no if or but. The crazy thing about democracy is that, finally, we have a chance at the real thing. With 70% of the population now online, any new law or decision should be voted upon by the populace. You get two weeks to vote online, majority wins.

    What is 'the myth of rape'? To my mind, rape is about the subjugation of another human being - how can that ever be right (unless of course it's over territory or oil)?

    Any 'pressure group' who thinks China has the right idea about anything should be immediately dissolved and outlawed. China is an affront to any rightminded (ie, one who agrees with me) individual.

  30. Gary M.
    Flame

    WTF Churchlady!

    Yet another supposed do-gooder telling people how to live their lives and raise their kids. If parents do not wish to have their children exposed to pr0n, violence and poor examples of humanity; turn off the TV/computer/radio and read the Bible.

    OH! Nevermind, the Bible has all that too... Plus incest, betrayl, deceipt, murder, theft, etc. And these were the "good" guys.

    Mine's the one with the flameproof liner and bottle of ice-water in the pocket.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh, woe!

    People are realising that they don't need to risk making unwanted children with all the socioeconomic evils that come along with them and do-gooders want to stop them realising this and perpetuate the high abortion high juvenile crime status quo.

    Porn is not evil. Risking unwanted pregnancy is. Live with it.

  32. Ken Hagan Gold badge
    Coat

    Re: Great timing...

    Further to my previous post, I would of course have provided THIS link

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/11/china_censorware_security_holes/

    ...if I'd found it before posting. Apologies for any implication that the BBC beat El Reg to this story.

  33. The Original Ash
    Stop

    We are sexual beings

    Let us be sexual.

    If one half puts the stop on such things, expect folk to go elsewhere! Ease of access does not equate to breakdown in relationships; A lack of understanding, communication, and compromise on difficult issues is what causes relationship issues.

    By the way, much like China and Australia, filters can and *will* be bypassed by *basic* changes to a computer.

    Unless you want to

    - Buy the computer I want

    - Pay for all the software I want to use on that computer

    - Ensure my privacy is respected on that computer (monitor for infraction only)

    - Pay for my connectivity for that computer

    you can screw yourself, pressure group.

    As long as it's my home, containing my computer, paid for by my money, using an internet connection I'm paying for, you can bet I'll be against this plan 100%.

  34. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Nothing stopping them

    Give a major PC distributor enough cash and they will install whatever crapware you supply on all new computers. If Mediamarch want this, then they can commission the software themselves and pay to have it installed.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    A "voluntary group"?

    http://www.mediamarch.org.uk/ourfaith.htm

    ..more like a religious lobby group. Pass the pr0n.

  36. Kwac
    Linux

    bring on the penguins

    Unless you want to run the Chinese filter under WINE, of course.

  37. adnim

    I must be a sexual deviant

    "At Mediamarch, we are hearing from a growing number of couples whose entire relationship is being put under enormous pressure through what can only be described as an addiction by one partner to internet porn."

    Well I don't expect any couples to contact Mediamarch expressing how much pornography has enhanced their sex lives.

    "Porn addiction is a serious issue, which neither government nor computer suppliers are currently taking seriously enough," she said."

    Of course it is, and I would be seriously aggrieved if some entity tried to interfere with my access to it.

    "exposure to pornographic material puts one at an increased risk for developing sexually deviant tendencies, committing sexual offences, experiencing difficulties in one's intimate relationships, and accepting the rape myth".

    Absolutely, without my daily quota of rape, sexual assault and child molestation I think I would go insane. And who determines what is sexually deviant? It is likely that some people view anything other than engaging in the missionary position for reproductive purposes only as sexually deviant.

    Who the fuck do these people think they are. I'm all for restricting the access of children to examples of extreme pornography, but this is a job for parents. However, I do object to having some narrow minded puritanical determine what myself and my partner expose ourselves to in the privacy of our own home.

    Meanwhile children will continue to watch and possibly be influenced by the ultra violence found in TV shows, films and other media.

  38. Mike 85 Bronze badge

    yes...

    i think it's obvious, ask them if censorship is such a good idea and they fully believe that any websites that a few people don't like should be taken offline, will they be happy to censor their own websites? there are plenty of people who dislike them...

  39. Andy 17
    Stop

    Miranda Suit..

    ..Kindly Piss Off

  40. Emo
    Pirate

    OpenDNS?

    Use it if your having problems with kids looking at pr0n.

    Otherwise fuck off and leave the rest of the adult population to it.

    :)

  41. T L
    Stop

    Nah... Bollocks!

    "All computers should be provided with net filtering software loaded - and the default position for such filters should be on." That is the view of Miranda Suit, one of the organisers of Mediamarch - a voluntary group seeking to reduce the harmful effects of the media on our children, families and society.

    Or... Parents could actually take responsibilities for their off-spring, and people like you lot could f**k off!!!

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Nooo

    Don't let it happen! I cant go back to getting my porn from under hedges. Thanks to the internet the supply is diminishing, and now that im an adult technically i should be leaving it for the teenagers.

    I much prefer DVD style live streaming of nubile naughtiness to a damp copy of Readers Wives.

    This is intolerable!

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Cool!

    "Porn addiction is a serious issue"

    Can I get disability benefits? I think I've got a chronic case!

  44. ratfox
    Thumb Down

    Increased risk for developing sexually deviant tendencies

    I wonder what they mean EXACTLY by this. As far as I know, there is no law in UK restricting people to have straight, plain vanilla sex in the missionary position (though there is such a law in Florida)

    What is their criteria to call a sexual preference "deviant"? Anything they would not do?

  45. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    book burning

    .. so Ms Suit, when's the next book burning and how can i get invited.

    Its worth noting that the Romans got the hump with St Peter as he as pushing celebacy as part of religion... then when roman wives decided to no longer 'put out', their husbands rightly realised that it could end the empire..

    One day people will realise that sex is an integral part of life, this victorian attitude is denying your own humanity.

  46. Adam West

    Clearly unaware

    The internet is for porn.

  47. John 23
    Paris Hilton

    If MP's..

    ...are expected to sign up ban net porn, where will they get their porn from, given it's frowned upon to claim for it on expenses?

    Paris... because she knows a bit about net porn.

  48. Tawakalna

    I say let her have her way

    the mad woman said:-

    "All computers should be provided with net filtering software loaded - and the default position for such filters should be on."

    fine. let her have that, so that when mam and dad buy their new Vista pc at PC World in the sales, little Johnny won't see none of that nasty pron stuff.

    meanwhile the rest of us will of course build our own or nuke the o/s and put a new one on. Let her have her way if it makes her feel better, what practical difference will it make to any self-respecting Reg reader?

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    _One_ Partner?

    "At Mediamarch, we are hearing from a growing number of couples whose entire relationship is being put under enormous pressure through what can only be described as an addiction by one partner to internet porn."

    Sigh. Those relationships were already under pressure of their own if either party felt they couldn't share watching porn with the other.. Before any porn got watched.

    Unlike these poor guys that are stuck with a prude I don't have to launch myself across the room crying "I'll just get that ready for you!", whenever my wife declares she's going online.

    Paris because... Well.. That's what we watched TOGETHER the other day.

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    yes, erect more barriers

    To keep numpties like this off the telly, radio, interweb, and streets.

  51. M Room
    Coat

    Boring

    If (and that is a big if) anyone is actually addicted to porn they must have an extremely high threshold not to be throughly bored by "samo samo". (Boy meets girl, get naked, girl plays with boy, boy enters girl in one or more of three ways - film ends). Must admit that I did see Sound of Music some 26 times but that is beside the point.

    The main objection these people probably have to raise is that they themselves feel inadequate in comparison to the actors used in porn - true some of the positions are impossible unless you are more than well endowed but what the heck - if you can at least do some of them there is a chance that a boring routine could become fun - treat porn as an eye opening information manual and it might just cut down on some unhappy marriages; perhaps it should be mandatory for all to watch some at least for one hour a week.

    (Married 38 years and still having fun)

    Mines the one with the condoms in the pocket.

  52. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    The Department of AdultERated Learning. One of Mandy's Surprise Packages?

    Is there a leading niche market then for responsible phornographers? Binary Wizards and Digital Witches in Love with Nymphs and Satyrs.

    HeXStream CodeXSSXXXXX :-) Manna to Man and as Sticky Sweet as Running Honey.

    With Sir Tim Berners Lee on the Web 2.0 Flight Deck, is not the Virtual World Ours to Create and Copy to Earth with Creative Media Placements.

    Virtual Realities Delivered to Enabling Administrations and Exciting Executive Executable Interests. ..... is the Present Reality Posited and Deposited and Registered here.

    From Russia with Love, M'Lud.

    It never rains but it pours, in heaven. :-)

  53. N 2

    Dont make me laugh

    I mean the average eight year old is going to have it removed in minutes, if parents really care about their children theyd sit with them & teach them - but I daresay half of them are muppets that dont know what theyre doing in the first place

    if you want a reasonable content filter use Open DNS

    otherwise, she can Fuck Off!

  54. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ Gary M

    You forgot human sacrifice in your list. Yes, in the name of Yahweh.

  55. Robert Hill
    Stop

    @David Edwards

    Phorm aren't for net censorship -- Phorm are for targeting advertising, and there is too much money in porn and gambling advertising for Phorm to ever be against THAT. Just like in the early days of home videotapes, the money is in things that people would rather do in privacy, and are willing to pay for in some way...

  56. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ratfox

    By the tone of the first few pages of results on porn addiction she means being a homosexual, s&m, and 3 in a bed. Probably sex toys aswell.

  57. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Down

    Porn as scape-goat(se)...

    Once again we see those who wish to enforce a Nanny State blaming the "evil internet porn" for problems which existed long before the internet ever came about.

    And, of course, when they talk about "acceptable content" what they mean is "content that is acceptable to THEM"

    Well I find their content "unacceptable" so obviously it should be banned.

  58. Maty

    sadly ...

    ...we can see that this poor woman is either ignorant or demented, but an awful lot of people agree with her. And when politicians who don't know their ASDL from their arseholes can see votes in it, they will try to make her harebrained vision reality. And no-one is going to publicly oppose it because they can be cast as 'promoting porn for kids'.

    Perhaps we should be pointing to the wave of sexual crimes and deviancy that has swept across the world since porn came to the internet. If not 'wave' then 'huge rise'. Perhaps 'a statistically significant figure'. Anything?

  59. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Poor supporting evidence

    Maybe I have too much time on my hands (ok, I do) but I felt like checking out:

    "The evidence cited on the Mediamarch site [indicating] that "exposure to pornographic material puts one at an increased risk for developing sexually deviant tendencies, committing sexual offences, experiencing difficulties in one's intimate relationships, and accepting the rape myth"."

    which is presumably the article entitled: "A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of pornography referred to here:

    http://www.mediamarch.org.uk/howisthemedialinkedwithc.htm

    Although they don't provide a full reference (first alarm bell) and my university doesn't carry that journal (second alarm bell), the title was easily Googleable. Anyone with even a tiny bit of experience with meta-analyses will see the failures straight away.

    Now, back to better quality research...

  60. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Censor Lists

    Big censor lists like those that the chinese use will only work in big populations like China. Where they cna hire slaves to browse the internet looking for not so friendly websites. And add them to lists.

  61. John Ozimek

    Devil's Advocate

    Whilst many commenters have latched on to the censorship aspects of this interview...the original comment about having filters on as standard emerged from a conference at which there seemed to be very few arguments against that proposition.

    Therefore...would be very interested to see if anyone has a simple rebuttal of it. I'd guess it may be a bit of a redundant chunk for some systems...and possibly assumes some commonality between OS's... but if the pc owner can turn it off... not altogether sure that it is an issue.

  62. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Couples?

    Couples? So you CAN'T make the man in this couple who likes to look at porn install a filter, but you think you can get a GLOBAL consensus for ALL MEN to install filters?

    Oh please, Nanny Jacqui is gone, the rest of the nannies will be ejected soon enough. If you're husband feels sexy looking at porn, then why not join in and quit being such a prude? Anyone that takes their husband to a therapist for being attracted to visual images of sex, is ending their marriage. Men are programmed to be attracted to visual images of sex FFS.

  63. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Suits you, Miranda

    Why would we want to submit ourselves to censorship that is based on a premise that is unsupported by one single iota of evidence. C'mon Miranda, give us the research papers, the statistical evidence, the field trials, and if they really support your assertion that the world will be a better place if the internet is fed to us through a gauze filter then we might be persuaded to give it a go. In the absence of any such evidence please just go and fuck yourself.

  64. Mark #255

    "Acceptable content"

    The .sig of a /. poster I see frequently seems to be particularly apposite:

    "Everyone that has pr0n less nasty than mine is a prude.

    Everyone that has nastier pr0n than me is a freak."

  65. Loki 1

    Bugger me...

    "Porn addiction is a serious issue, which neither government nor computer suppliers are currently taking seriously enough," she said.

    Well, maybe they arnt but i take internet porn very seriously. There just isnt enough of it. Too many damn social networking sites, businesses, tech sites.... really, just get rid of all this crap and restore to us our beloved 100% interpornwebcloud

  66. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Porn addiction......

    I can accept this as a problem*, in the same way as anything can be a problem. But the accepted solution to addiction is individual treatment of the person addicted, not the wholesale banning of something that might be addictive. Unless this is a backdoor plan to criminalise porn because it does not meet mediawatch's view of wholesome family values**

    I am also pretty sure that being religious, their idea of deviant sexual behaviour also includes anything homosexual which would upset gays, lesbians and those who like to see videos of 2 women going at it in showers.

    *I think it is bollocks though.

    **yes there is a certain irony in porn being non-family friendly when sex is the root cause of families in the first place.

  67. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    another thing

    Another thing we have to consider before dismissing these people that a large number of the Parlimentary labour part (including Brown - and Blair when he was about) are members of the "Christian Socialist Movement" http://www.thecsm.org.uk/Groups/87270/Christian_Socialist_Movement.aspx puts alot of the moralist laws into context doesn't it.

  68. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    @Tawakalna

    Uhh... because it would set a precedent saying that government control of your access to media and communication is A-OK? Just maybe?

    "In the UK, they came first for the buyers of pre-built PCs, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a buyer of pre-built PCs..."

  69. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Have you seen her

    The people who complain most about porn in relationships are munters.

    Check Miranda out:

    http://www.christianchoice.cpaparty.org.uk/?page=map&id=10

    She would have a big reason to feel threatened in a relationship =)

    As usual a bunch of religous nuts band together to opress the moral majority.

    Alien, because its better looking then her, go alien porn!

  70. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Rape myth?

    Not sure what the quote of rape myth meant in this context, but there's at least one study of it's acceptance change after seeing a few movies.

    http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/147.php

    They found there was no change after seeing movies, so I doubt there's a change with porn.

    Usually with these censorship group the goal is defined first, and reasoning for why you should do as they say, after. Reasoning is a house of cards as the main reason can't be uttered; "we want it censored because we don't like it."

  71. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But wait a minute here...

    I was under the impression that with Japan's under-censorship, they had less sexual offenses committed...

    Am I wrong here, or did I just hear this from some pro-hentai perv?

  72. M Gale

    They're doing it wrong.

    "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)

    So this means that MediaWatch should be more concerned with MPs, expenses, spin-doctors and ultra-nationalists (hello BNP), than such fleshy concerns as pornography, surely?

  73. M Gale
    Coat

    Oops

    MediaMarch.

    I'll just get me coat.

  74. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Alert

    Most child accessable PC's have a filter already

    Theyr'e called parents

    of course they only filter if they work.

  75. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Screw filters...

    ...pre-load porn on computers instead!

  76. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Harmless

    The really scary part of this article was Mediawatch trying to look like a more moderate and reasonable counterpart to Mediamarch while actually having far more sinister ambitions.

  77. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Porn addiction?

    Quick, round up every teenage boy for treatment!

  78. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Sure...

    "Sexual deviancy" - not this effin stuff again. Whenever I hear that phrase, I know that there is there is some idiocy involved.

    Rather try to raise awareness that internet access is something you can just give your kid and expect that nothing bad will ever happen. I mean most parents know that a child's TV consumption should be monitored closely, ditto for PCs.

  79. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    how about a god botherer filter?

    I personally think that most religion is evil, after all, look at the number of religious officers molesting children etc etc

    So how about a filter that blocks all religious output with a default set to on, then if you want to hear what they have to say simply allow the cults of your choice to get through on your interwebs.

    Alternatively, I am all for freedom of speech, so if they want to spout there crap they should let the rest of us enjoy watching some bird with big plastic hooters getting rogered senseless over a bad soundtrack.

    Paris - She doesnt do censorship either

  80. Andy J

    Sexual Deviancy

    A fair chunk of the world's population probably think that homosexuality is 'deviant' so I wonder where he enlightened souls at Mediamarch stand on that? Don't expect Mandelson's support if you get the answer wrong.

  81. Graham Marsden

    @John Oz - Devil's Advocate

    A simple rebuttal of having the filters default switched on?

    Certainly: Opt in or opt out?

    Phorm wants us to have to opt out of their service.

    118800 wants us to have to opt out of their directory.

    This bunch want us to have to opt out of their filtering.

    I prefer to make choices like this myself.

    Simple.

  82. A B 3
    Gates Horns

    Stop offering them advice

    Stop advising them about the difficulty of filtering. They could use a system of online updates... Doh!

    I do have a failsafe filter for them however:

    Close your eyes put hands oveer your eyes and scream, "LA LA LA LA I'm not listening!"

  83. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Down

    But her wackiness is gone.

    Who will champion such "needed" policies?

    Most likely the same bunch of annonymous authoritarian senior civil servants who used the same TOTC malarkey every previous time.

  84. Znort666
    Paris Hilton

    Well after reading this...

    stumbled across this last night whilst doing some browsing...

    http://www.reason.com/news/show/134038.html

    Time Top ten absurd covers...and one was on Pornography.

    Why So Worried?

    Porn, Time says, is sweeping the country, leaving our deflowered Puritan sensibilities in its wake. "The First Amendment may safeguard the rights of pornographers and their audience," the magazine posits, "but surely the majority of Americans who find porn objectionable have rights as well. Must they and their children be under constant assault by the hucksters of porn?"

    Cue Ominous Music:

    The article quotes U.C.L.A. psychiatrist Robert J. Stoller, author of Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred, who warns that porn "'disperses rage' that might tear society apart, but also threatens society by serving as propaganda for the unleashing of sexual hostility."

    Oh, Just Settle Down:

    Time was right about the increase in production and availability of pornography in the 1970s, it was just wrong about the effects. Two years after this cover appeared, the number of reported rapes in the U.S. began a 30-year free-fall, a period over which pornography became increasingly easier to obtain. Today, porn is more abundant and ubiquitous than ever, while incidence of rape in the U.S. is at its lowest rate since the government started keeping statistics.

    I look at Porn with my partner, we both enjoy it. But to say that people who watch porn are more likely to be deviants is a very broadsweeping comment.

    I for one think that woman needs to get out more, and maybe get laid and should she not be a looker then the unfortunate person could choose which bag, Paper or Plastic.

    Paris...no explanation needed..

  85. Alpha Tony
    Stop

    Pffft

    They seem to have two separate and mostly unconnected agendas here, to which I will respond individualy-

    1) 'Won't somebody please think of the children'. Yes. Somebody should think of the children - The parents. Why not make the person providing net access to children legally responsible for what they do online? I'm not suggesting that a technologically-impaired parent would be able to keep a l33t kiddy-hacker from circumventing controls, but they should at least TRY. A properly secured PC with profiles configured correctly and parental control software installed would keep the vast majority of the little darlings from getting anywhere near germanmarmiteminers.com or those other sites Ms Suit hates so much (but seems to know a surprising amount about).

    If you allow a child unsupervised access to a PC with no parental controls you should be held accountable if they find stuff they shouldn't. Most tech-illiterate people buy their pcs from big retailers like PC World. They should be required to remind the purchaser of this legal obligation and offer parental control software. They would be happy to do it as they would make some extra income from selling said software. Schools should already have such controls and internet cafes should be required to do the same for machines that will be used by the under 18s if they don't already. Job done.

    2) 'Consenting adults look at too much porn and it is bad for them'. Fuck off and die. Seriously. Fuck. Off. And. Die. What possible right do you have to impose your subjective morality on the rest of the population? You don't like porn. We get it. We really do. I'm not a big consumer of grumbleware myself. The difference is that I recognise that other people like it and as they are adults and aren't hurting anyone else I have no bloody right to stop them. Get a life.. And maybe a dildo - You obviously have a lot of repressed energy you need to work off.

    That is all.

  86. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Mediamarch don't speak for all Christians

    I am someone with Christian beliefs, who is horrified at the thought of centrally imposed net censorship. I am all in favour of client side solutions being available to users, to install at their own wish, and for ISPs making filtering software "available" to customers to install if they wish, but I quite simply DO NOT TRUST ANY CENTRAL AUTHORITY to censor the net for me. If content providers are hosting ILLEGAL material then take them down via the law of the land. If individuals are caught downloading illegal material then prosecute them. But once the state or the ISPs start pretending to be "looking after me" then I am very very worried. The fact that they have chosen China as an example is laughable - where net censorship is used by the government for political repression. And the church in China doesn't exactly get very sympathetic treatment from the state either, does it? Christians in China are victims of state internet surveillance and censorship as much as political dissidents are.

    MediaMarch do NOT speak for all Christians, and there is a strong tradition of Christian radical DISSENT on this matter, standing out against censorship, and in favour of freedom of expression under the rule of law, civil liberties and religious tolerance. I'm currently active in the campaigns against the use of Deep Packet Inspection by ISPs to profile customer browsing because I have concerns about privacy and liberty, and it is my Christian beliefs that motivate me in that involvement. The issues are related.

    We used to look after our society by prosecuting law breakers and using the threat of being caught and punished as the main form of deterrence, as well as taking responsibility for encouraging responsible and caring behaviour. Now we seem to be moving towards a "Minority Report" type of society where the balance is on "preventing people breaking the law". That is dangerous - whether it applies to police powers on demonstrations or net censorship by the state. I'm against it, and it is my Christian faith that motivates me against it, and I am happy to identify with those of all faiths or none, who also share that same concern.

    The experience o this sort of scheme in Australia should be enough to warn us of the folly of moving further down this road of censorship - lets have decent law enforcement rather than censorship. That way the villains suffer instead of the innocent citizens.

  87. Toastan Buttar
    Happy

    Self-limiting 'addiction'

    Don't know about you but once I've blown my load, I'm no longer interested in seeking out pr0n (for a few hours anyhow).

  88. Rob 114
    Flame

    "Mediamarch" LOL!

    Religous extremism. Dangerous no matter what flavour it comes in.

    As for encouraging "deviant" behaviour. Jesus H Christ on a bike! So, "mediamarch" are now to be the judges of what counts as "deviant" behaviour Always good to see tolerance alive and well in the 21st century. Bet "Miranada" and "Pippa" are a right laff on a night out.

    Worryingly, this sounds like the kind of half baked insanity that our morally corrupt and deviant Government would go for.

    Still, no matter they will be out come next year and "Mediamarch" will move their weird hate filled obsessions onto some other area.

  89. Lionel Baden 1

    yeah right this made me LOL

    if she thinks some crappy pre loaded software is gonna stop them getting porn.

    I worry now how am i goingt o be able to even monitor my kids activities when they are older and i bloody well work in IT.

    Kids are devious and clever

    plus i can see the google most searches for = disable porn filter Mwaahaa.

    Can we burn her as a witch now ???

  90. Pete 8
    Paris Hilton

    Pr0ndemic

    'They' want to depopulate Earth by 90%, so...

    ...Sex will be illegal soon altogether, except if you pass the required criteria, i.e. your accounts are up to date, RFID implant is active and within range of a pleasure-enabling network node.

    Yay verily smote and burn the internet book, and all those who can read or hear, because Earth is FLAT, just like LCD.

    Face it folks, it is going to take a while before we get rid of either paedophilia or pietophilia.

    Paris, who would barely be known if filters were in place at the 'birth' of her career.

  91. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Interesting

    It seems that Ms Suit has been visiting Bob The Angry Flower this week. Full explanation of what drove her to this can be found at http://www.angryflower.com/crashh.html

  92. Pete 8
    Alert

    And...

    Fuckit, cross that beast with sexting and phone-dirty-talk filters and some mega databases you may as well arrest everyone capable of reproduction.

    One 'abuse of power' is not usually fixed by propagating another, even if it is a profitable enterprise to do so.

    Burn all witches and witch-burners too!

    THE GOVTS, CORPORATES AND NUTJOBS EN MASSE WANT TO ABUSE ALL YOUR CHILDREN FOR LIFE.

    Could it be that the best primary defence is teaching kids how and when to say...

    "FUCK OFF NUTJOBS"

  93. MnM

    twats

    to bugger deeply into a sticky tangent for a moment:

    a year or two ago the Kenwood concerts were banned - that's a series of around 8 summer saturday evenings when the likes of burt bacharach, the london philharmonic or perhaps some abba tribute regail the good people of hampstead and highgate with background music to accompany their picnics. Sure, they've got a bit commercial recently, with perrier tents etc., but they're good, clean fun. Banned, following some ridiculously small number of noise complaints (some say 3), despite the concerts having run for 55 years. And re-instated the following year following an overwhelming campaign from a group of people who generally thought themselves so mainstream and uncontroversial that they would always be able do what they wanted, because they don't ask much, really. What amazed everyone wasn't the small number of twats who wanted to ruin everything for everyone else, but the way in which the bureacracy failed the vast majority. Health and Safety issues. Production opaquely contracted out to 3rd parties. God knows what other small time politics played a part.

    twats, twats everywhere.

  94. Ian 11

    Wow

    I never knew frigid people had their own little society.

    How cute.

  95. michael 33

    for your entertainment

    and to make this discussion complete I present a dilbert comic

    http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/1996-01-24/

    you may all bow now

  96. Rob Crawford

    @ Devils Advocate

    people ignored the pre installed filters not due to agreement but because it was such a stupid idea in the 1st place. The term beneath contempt comes to mind

    Though it was touched upon both by myself and several others

  97. Steve Swann
    Flame

    *takes stage, shuffles paper at lecturn*

    *Clears throat*

    Ahem.

    Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, free thinkers of the world, I would like to put forward a new proposal that will ensure our libertarian, open and free society remains such.

    I would like to ban religious opinion on the internet.

    There can be absolutely no doubt that religious opinion, moralising and dogma causes the overwhelming measure of harm in our society. From my research, and from the research of many others, all of which is freely available on the uncensored segments of the Internet, it is clear that religion, in all forms, brings nothing but harm.

    It is a virus that we infect children with, causing them to believe that 'faith' and the acceptance of that faith, in an unquestioning form, is a virtue. It instills in them a hatred of those that do not share the precise same values as those of their parents and educators. It stifles freedom of expression, art, music and speech wherever such may be in discordance with its own, self-created and highly subjective principles.

    It is responsible for wars, torture, persecution, racism and crime throughout both the contemporary world and the entirity of recorded history. It seeks to subjugate and control, never to free expression or explain itself. It holds itself as 'eminent domain' in its hubris, denying the right to question or counter its inexplicable 'reasoning'. It seeks to moralise and to rule where such is both inappropriate and unsolicited. It denys science and reason in favour of 'acceptance without question'.

    Worse, and more over, it has become the shelter of those who purport the worst crimes against humanity; Suicide bombings, ethnic cleansing, inquisitional torture and even the sexual abuse of children have all been excused in the name, or with the power, of religion.

    Unelected and unaccountable; the perpetrators and supporters of these corrupt values seek to interfere with our freedoms, our rights, every day. They want our obedience and compliance, and they are willing to kill, bribe and threaten their way to obtain that power. They will even inflict the same upon each other in the name of their unprovable gods.

    People of the world, I call upon you to reject this thinking wholeheartedly, and to ignore its plaintive wails as such primitive beliefs dies. Look around at the world, and the religious conflict that plagues it; are these not the very death throes of the old beliefs that we are observing? Are they not simply doing battle to see which of their religions will be the last to expire?

    I, therefore, call for a filter on the internet, opt-in rather than opt-out, that blocks all religious traffic and information as it is proveably and demonstrably harmful to mankind as a whole.

    I call for an end to religion. Before we are all engulfed in its hatred.

    *steps down from lecturn*

  98. Wortel
    Pirate

    Pressure Group this:

    "Porn addiction is a serious issue, which neither government nor computer suppliers are currently taking seriously enough," she said.

    ---

    It is not the government and/or computer suppliers job to even remotely care about porn addiction, let alone force upon people some form of totalitarian control. Addictions are social problems and have to be dealt with on an individual basis (as no two humans are alike - start another discussion on 'difference' from here on if you must) by trained professionals, not by some (malicious or otherwise) exploitable process on paper and production line.

    'Total Control' doesn't exist, and should you wish to try to enforce such a thing anyway, great opposition will be your breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of your life.

    If you want people to smart up, educate them on the dos and don't s instead of telling them 'I can't let you do that, Dave.'. You know, where are the parents again? Forgot about them did you.

    Further more what China does is it's own business. Wrong business, but their business nonetheless.

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