At 9:15 PM -0800 12/7/96, Thaddeus J. Beier wrote:
PICS, or something like it, is the absolutely right response to calls for true Internet censorship. People agreeing to a language, a way of communicating, is a good thing.
Did you object to HTML? TCP/IP? Other agreements that limited the way that people communicate?
These examples are essentially part of the "infrastructure." They are akin to video tape standards (Beta vs. VHS) or t.v. formats (NTSC, PAL, SECAM). Or to the physical and electrical standards for cable transmission. In none of these cases is _content_ looked at. Indeed, the average user of TCP/IP and HTML need never concern himself with such things. PICS, on the other hand, would not be at such an "infrastructure" level, as it would involve the human originator of a work making value judgements about the prurient content of his work, the blasphemy quotient, perhpas, and so forth. And, failure to make the correct value decision could presumably expose the author/labeller to various charges (should PICS be mandated or should the standards be implemented in civil code, etc.). (If they are not mandated/implemented, an awful lot of folks like me are going to deliberately label our material in various monkeywrenching and "imp of the perverse" ways, just to watch the sparks fly.) In any case, I don't see PICS as anything like the "infrastructure layer" protocols of TCP/IP and HTML, just as I don't see the MPAA ratings systems on movies as anything comparable to motion picture technical standards like sprocket spacing, frame rates, etc. --Tim May -- [This Bible excerpt awaiting review under the U.S. Communications Decency Act of 1996] And then Lot said, "I have some mighty fine young virgin daughters. Why don't you boys just come on in and fuck them right here in my house - I'll just watch!"....Later, up in the mountains, the younger daughter said: "Dad's getting old. I say we should fuck him before he's too old to fuck." So the two daughters got him drunk and screwed him all that night. Sure enough, Dad got them pregnant, and had an incestuous bastard son....Onan really hated the idea of doing his brother's wife and getting her pregnant while his brother got all the credit, so he pulled out before he came....Remember, it's not a good idea to have sex with your sister, your brother, your parents, your pet dog, or the farm animals, unless of course God tells you to. [excerpts from the Old Testament, Modern Vernacular Translation, TCM, 1996]