-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- [ To: cypherpunks ## Time: 01/27/96 02:19 am ## Subject: This post is rated LTC for `Low Technical Content.' ]

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 18:04:21 -0800 From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) Subject: Re: "This post is G-Rated"

I see self-ratings of Usenet and mailing list posts as possible, just nearly worthless. And the reall contoversial stuff, this kind of goddamned fucking shit, will not get screened out. After all, I voluntarily rated this thread "G," and look what got through! (And it's only the tit of the iceberg, so to speak.)

The best solution has always seemed to me to be one of these three: a. Tags appended to notes/posts, from various reviewers, digitally signed and otherwise coded to allow intelligent filtering, or b. Electronic distributions of reviewers' evaluations tagged to notes in some simple way. (I.e. give each note or post a unique ID which appears in the message.) Then, a smart newsreader/mail program sorts the notes accordingly, or c. The reviewer reads the group/list, and rates posts according to some useful criteria. He then resends it out to his users, filtered as desired. (CP-LITE seems like a very early version of this.) Any of these can be pretty easily ported to that magical set-top box we hear so much about (no doubt running Windows '05). In many ways, (a) and (b) are easier.

A meaningful "parental filter" cannot be done on-the-fly with self-ratings. Some minor steps can be taken, but not all worth the expense and hassle of a mandatory system.

Actually, I think in practice this will mean that programs get a given rating, which is renewed every so often. You don't rate Melrose Place episode #89, you rate the entire series. This whole idea offers two wonderful opportunities to control content on TV. First, get the TVs shipped with the V-chip filter turned on. Most people don't bother setting their VCR timers, and they also won't bother setting this unless it denies them access to lots of shows they like. And, if turning the filter on and off is hard enough to actually keep the average 12-year-old out, then it will be hard enough that many families with kids will simply never change its setting. They may even forget or lose the PIN that allows them to do so. This means that you have a sizeable audience who depend on this rating system, the only one readily available. Second, apply pressure to television networks in whatever ways necessary, by threatening a re-evaluation of their top-rated shows. After all, ER really is a little gory for kids to be watching. Oh, you've decided to spend less time on covering the losses in the great Bosnian Peace Initiative? Well, I suppose a little real-life drama won't hurt anyone. If the V-chip is used widely at all, this represents a really useful threat. What happens to the network executive who gets ER to lose half its audience, even just for a few weeks while a review board takes up the network's appeal?

--Tim Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero

Note: Please respond via e-mail as well as or instead of posting, as I get CP-LITE instead of the whole list. --John Kelsey, jmkelsey@delphi.com / kelsey@counterpane.com PGP 2.6 fingerprint = 4FE2 F421 100F BB0A 03D1 FE06 A435 7E36 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMQrIiUHx57Ag8goBAQGhIAQA2F3guHlTnebja5fcGwEwOKx3CwdhAs90 zn6Di+nztSoGt6JF2kIC60zsfVHgQ//RJcMtuiFzBsQoTn/E56JM2mZ4vJpsfipO lVbKlZ1HylDyGLcF/pBllBVfvmXLjpvu0OXkFt3yqEohjaNlF7l49bOz28ngLv/A CATYZGlDP64= =6BO+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----