There are many steps we could take to protect our children from unsuitable materials we see in everyday life. We could hide the newspaper from them so that they won't see any articles or advertisements, throw away the television, trash the VCR, etc. Obviously, these are not the types of steps we want, nor should take. The Internet is a vast resource of good information for our children to use and to grow by. However, those sites and publishers of adult material know this also, and have a very powerful weapon at there disposal to use when the screws are tightened for them to clean up their act. That tool is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.


The First Amendment, for those of you who have been out of 8th grade Civics class for a while, gives Americans the right of free speech. This amendment does not state that we have the right to free, and suitable, speech; the right to speech suitable to all Americans, the right of speech that does not include pornography. This is what the adult entertainment industry uses as their defense to all encroachments on their ability to market and sell their materials. Government has been effective in a couple areas of entertainment in at least providing consumers with information that content may not be suitable for children as in movie ratings and parental advisory stickers on music. However, this does not prevent young children from purchasing or viewing this type of material. It also does not provide recourse back to the seller for this material being available for use to children.

The COPC has reviewed how other industries handle this problem, and have incorporated these same processes into their recommendations. There is currently software available to consumers that may be installed on your computer to block specific content from the Internet. This software will also provide reports that show attempts made to access sites. Some software will also allow access to sites to the point where explicit material is accessed, kicking the user off the Internet when that area is reached. This process is effective to a point. That point is where it interferes with the ability for a young user to gain valuable and useful information on a topic the software may see as offensive, including research on breast cancer (breast is a "lockout" word), other forms of reproductive cancers, etc. This type of material we want our children to be able to access. The software does not make it easy to add/remove words such as this, so it becomes a complex issue. The recommendation has also been made to add rating designations to websites. This presents basically the same issues experienced in the entertainment industry, with one exception. It is hard to verify that the person actually sitting at the computer is under 18 years of age. With the knowledge most of our children have today, it is not difficult to circumvent the system.

The COPC has also made recommendations to add domain names that reflect the content being marketed or distributed by the sites. This would include domains such as .XXX or .SEX for adult entertainment sites. Again, the First Amendment argument arises in that these domain names make it easier to filter out this material which they are free to distribute. It would also provide an unwanted designation on the site that would make it more recognizable as an adult entertainment site and drop the number of hits to the page. Recently this was rejected by the ICANN board in a 9 to 5 vote. The adult entertainment industry opposed it as "increased state control" &, oddly enough, anti-pornography advocates also opposed, believing it "legitimizes an illegitimate industry..."

In the last article in this series, I'll state what the commission's final recommendation is, as well as what other advocacy groups have to say on this issue.


©Walter Stone
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