In Resoponce to shii and Goatse
Posted by kusela on July 27, 2006
It is called responsibility.
If you are not responsible enough to want, as a community, to protect your weaker citizens then the government should step in and create a law. Children do not understand the big wide world as well as adults and it is all of our responsibilities to protect them during this very impressionable time. Could you imagine the damage some things would cause a child if viewed at an age of 4 or 5.
This law is not censorship, and it is not about people being offended. It is about choice. If I choose to view the picture I should be allowed to view the picture, but in opposition, if I choose not to view I should not have to because somebody tricked me into it. The law does not say you cannot link to the picture, you just need to ensure that the viewer understands what it is that they are linking to.
The music, movie and game industry all have these standards that must be maintained so why should the Internet be any different. We are the produces, directors, actors and guild-masters of the Internet. We were given a medium to express ourselves and be free. Some people have chosen to abuse this privilege and now there needs to be a law.
Think of it this way. You are visiting a Martin Luther King tribute blog and somebody in the comments section of a post throws in a link. You click on the link and it opens in a new window and you see MLK hanging from a rope off of a tree with Klan members chanting whatever they chant. Offended yet, would you be angry. I know I would be. We need laws to keep people from doing this kind of thing.
Web sites need to put disclaimers on their content if they host images or words that are sexual in nature. Why should it be OK for the average Joe to just link to these pictures without a disclaimer as well. Again it is not about censorship it is about responsibility.
Mike
Shii said
So, you support throwing someone in jail for 10 years for sending their 30-year-old friend a link to Goatse.
Because that’s what this law says.
Read it. That’s what I posted the full text of it for.
Mike said
I support throwing someone in jail because they tricked a 4 year old into looking at images that might damage their mental health
Frabadash said
You are not completely wrong… but you most certainly are not right.
Everyone should know by now that the Internet is a horrible place for children, but you do realize it is not simply children browsing these things…
The law states that sending a decieving link constitutes a 10 or 20 year max jailtime. First of all, I believe this should be a fine of some sort. This law is somewhat of a step in the right direction, but simply the way it is constructed is disasterous.
Might I add that the USA (yes, I am a citizen) has started becoming a pussy country. The world is not as pleasant as people want it to be, and it will never be as such. This also happens to be a matter of opinion. A christian right-wing parent would probably freak at someone saying “shit”, while a drunken father may spout “shit” all the time. It’s offending to some, but not to others.
There are many, many minors that have seen Goatse. And guess what? It doesn’t bother them anymore. These minors don’t necessarily move on to become horrible delinquents of society. In fact, these minors have developed a strong sense of protection against the world. These people don’t let simple things like words and images destroy them. They are stronger than that.
Of course, if a parent doesn’t want them seeing it, it’s okay… I know I don’t want my 10 year old (if I ever get one) to stare at ol’ Goatse and get weirded out. But if I was an actual RESPONSIBLE parent, which this country lacks, my child wouldn’t see it anyways. And if s/he does, I’ll just chat with the kid, so s/he can wisen up against the world and no longer get scared of simple images on a screen.
In other words, I am here to raise my offspring as I want. I am not here to raise YOUR offspring as YOU want. Perhaps a different form of this law is called for, but the way it stands now is preposterous. Stop trying to get the government to raise your children for you. Warnings and labels are enough… and we ALL know the Internet is a scary place.
Going up to a child with a picture of Goatse in the playground is a good example. But an even better example is how the child got there in the first place… this playground happens to be smack dab in the middle of a ghetto with gangsters and druggies. How’d he get there in the first place? Irresponsible parenting.