Keeping it clean – porn on the internet
By Duncan Drury
The
internet opens up many things to the people who use it. Most of these are useful
things – even important and essential to our lives. However, amongst the
information and communication opportunities available to us when we sit down in
front of a connected computer there are things many consider to be undesirable
or, at worst, evil. One of these things is pornography.
In most cases, pornography online consists of pictures of women in varying
states of undress, sometimes engaged in lewd acts. Usually these images are only
seen as the result of an active search and financial transaction, but they can
surprise the unwitting web user, appearing in a banner ad or pop up window
generated by an otherwise innocent page. More often, unwanted images are
glimpsed and quickly closed after starting a session at an internet café; the
unsavoury remnant of the prior customer's surf. Perhaps most sinister are dirty
pictures generated by spyware hidden surreptitiously during installation of
seemingly unconnected software.
Some people argue online porn is an evil that should be banned. Others, fearing
the dangers of censorship, say that it is up to the individual what they look at
and if they are offended they should look away, perhaps tut-tutting. Most people
will agree is that those who don't want to see it shouldn't be subjected to it,
and children should be protected from it.
Whatever you feel about porn on the internet, one thing is sure – it is not
about to go away soon. Online porn is one of the few businesses to succeed in
making profits from the web. Indeed, porn is so lucrative that much of the
internet technology we have - and benefit from - today, from online payment
systems to streaming video, would not exist without it. When the "dot com"
bubble burst, internet technicians who were suddenly unemployed found themselves
turning to the porn industry for jobs. This situation is only possible because,
worldwide the demand for porn is high – people pay to look at those pictures.
This being the case, what can society do to avoid the problems associated with
easier access to pornography? Some call on governments to legislate against it.
However, the internet being a medium that knows no borders, any such action
would merely see banned providers moving elsewhere. The Tanzanian government has
written to ISPs, calling on them to bar access to porno sites, shutting Tanzania
off from the trend. Unfortunately, this is extremely difficult to do.
Blocking software does exist, but it tends to also block pages that are
desirable – a bar on pages including the word "sex", for example, removes access
to pages about HIV/AIDS, plant reproduction, or the London suburb of Middlesex.
Additionally, almost all blocking software allows some offending sites through.
To put it short, there is no effective technological means to block access to
porn at the ISP or on your own computer.
The majority of ISPs in the country have not been able to comply with the
government request, and one would speculate that if they did, many of their
customers would leave for an ISP that had not.
So what can be done about the deluge of nipples and genitalia appearing on
screens across the country? What can be done to protect the sensibilities of
those who are offended, and how to keep our childrens' curious eyes away?
In order to prevent people from seeing images they haven't chosen to see
computer owners and internet cafes should ensure their machines are free of
pop-up generating spyware. That programme I am always recommending – Ad-Aware –
will do this automatically every time the machine is booted. Internet cafes
using TimeWatcher should consider activating the function that closes all
windows when a customer's time runs out – or make sure that no windows are open
before a new customer sits down in front of the screen. Deciding upon, and
posting notices of an acceptable usage policy is another step that internet café
managers can take – set the boundaries for your customers. If you are ok with
customers looking at porn, make sure there are machines they can use where other
customers can't see the screens. One café in town has curtained off rooms for
"total privacy" – what at first seemed seedy with further consideration is
responsible.
Individual users should learn to distinguish seedy junk email that may contain
sordid pictures from genuine messages, and delete without opening them.
Parents worried about what their children might see should become more informed
about the internet – try it out and see what is really going on out there. You
will almost certainly be pleasantly surprised by how useful the internet is. You
will also gain a more realistic idea of what the risks are, and are then better
equipped to discuss the subject with your children. Visit the internet cafes and
web pages your children frequent. Ask the managers about how they deal with
porn.
Porn is part of the internet environment. It is not a reason to fear the
internet anymore than wild animals are a reason to fear a visit to the
countryside – taking reasonable precautions minimises the risks.
Interesting sites
www.whitelead.com/jrh/ISPs/ – Porn pictures with the
people removed – 100% clean!
www.lavasoft.de – Download Ad-Aware for
free now and get rid of that evil spyware!
www.proxomitron.info - Remove banner
ads and pop ups from web sites
