Panama Red

The Parent’s Responsibility! April 30, 2006

In response to  Bubbl25's blog concerning Children and the Internet, I agree with the blogger that there are many solutions out there available to assist parents, etc. in shielding their kids from unwanted porn, but the first line of defense(as the blogger puts it) should be the parents themselves.  The Government can put up all sorts of warnings on porn sites, and use other methods to deter underage kids from viewing porn, such as the new Website Labeling Laws, but without cooperation from parents, this problem will never be reversed.  Parents need to start thinking in terms of taking matters in to their own hands to prevent their children from viewing porn.

COM 497 – Final Thoughts April 30, 2006

I have truly enjoyed this class. I enjoy the ability to watch lectures at my own leisure. I believe that all classes should have this capability! The instructor is very knowledgeable in the Cyber Porn field, and he makes lectures more than bearable to view. I have learned a lot about Cyber Porn. I have learned aspects such as the beginning of porn and computers to such aspects of privacy and the Internet as it pertains to pornography. This course covered a wide array of subjects, and definitely has familiarized me with porn on the Internet, and all the controversy surrounding this area. The video clips during some of the lectures were very useful to me. It is good to incorporate real-life examples of themes you teach in class in to lectures. It gives students the idea that we are not learning "pointless" information.

One underlying theme of the course, I think, is the fact that the U.S. as a whole is much more strict about porn in general than other nations of the world. Porn is strictly regulated in the U.S., and laws pertaining to the pornography business are constantly argued in court. People's rights are also strictly regulated in the U.S., which leads to many court cases involving porn and issues concerning porn.  This a fairly new field of study, and a field in that is rapidly changing, which leads me to believe that there is much more to be known than we know alreadys concerning porn and the internet.

Website Labeling Laws April 30, 2006

I think these new set of proposed website labeling laws will be effective in combating unwanted porn on computers.  These new laws will regulate aspects of porn from requiring websites to post warnings, etc., to making it illegal for porn sites to use "innocent" words (such as Barbie, as mentioned in the article) to make their sites pop up on google searches, etc.  These laws would levy fines and imprisonment for violators of the law.  The consequences of not following the law are very harsh.  This will help to divert perpetrators!

These new laws will make it very hard for people who don't want to view porn on the Internet to "stumble" across it.  It will also protect children from finding porn on the Internet when they were not trying to view it.  

I don't understand how anyone could be against these proposed laws.  One person mentions in the article that this is a breach of the free expression right.   These laws do not restrict free expression.  These laws do not say, porn on the Internet is illegal.  They just put some safeguards in place to protect innocent civilians.

Privacy has its Issues April 30, 2006

After viewing lecture # 34, and after learning about the intrusion privacy laws, one question came to mind.  Everyone knows about the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee sex video tape.  Did the person who put that tape out there get prosecuted by Anderson and Lee?  It seems as though under the intrusion laws and the cases talked about in class such as the Sherwood Inn case, Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee would have a case against this person.

It was very interesting to learn that before the 1920's privacy was not an issue in America.  I couldn't believe that the constitution nor the bill of rights  never mentions privacy in their texts.  But, the courts now say that privacy is a right that we all have.  One can see how attitudes towards certain subjects change over time.  Popular opinion changes as times change.  One other aspect of life that has had a huge impact on privacy is technology.  As technology gets better, people's privacy is more easily intruded upon.  The invention of video cameras has really led to many invasions of privacy.  As time goes on, more discreet technology will surface that helps people invade innocent people's privacy.  There is no way to restrict technology, so the only way to combat these invasions is to, restrict how people use the technology, not restrict the manufacturingof the technology itself.

DOWN WITH MOLESTORS, RAPISTS, and ALL OTHER SEX OFFENDERS! April 28, 2006

I found an interesting article when browsing the internet for porn related news articles. You can read the article here.  The article explains that multiple states got together in a roundup of sex offenders circulating the
U.S.  The raids proved very successful, as the got at least 1000 sex offenders.  Police captured many disgusting child sex offenders in these raids.  It is my opinion that the $600,000 they spent on these raids is well worth the grimy, slime-buckets they have taken off the streets.  In my opinion, sex offenders and serial murderers (whom most are sex offenders) are the worst criminals out there!

TCBlog’s’ April 27, 2006

In response to TCblog's blog concerning, "Pick up and go!  That's out motto!", I agree that pornography is treated very differently in different places.  The differences can be from community to community, from state to state, or from country to country.  It is very hard to know how one place going to look at pornography.  It is seen through all we have learned in this class that many countries overseas (mainly European nations) have a much more laid back approach and feelings towards pornography.  In the U.S., porn is made out to be a huge "epidemic".  I wonder if it is actually such a big problem, or is it just made out to be a bigger deal by "big brother".

To clarify for the blogger, you state, "it seems a little strange when people will travel the world just to get their fix of their favorite porn".  This seems strange to you because you are not obsessed with porn.  There are people out there that are addicted to porn, just as some people are addicted to crack.  When a person is addicted to something they will go to great depths to satisfy their addiction.  The reason the blogger cannot understand someone doing this is because he/she does not know what it is like to be "hardcore" addicted to something. 

More Trademarking… April 27, 2006

I don't think it is fair that DISNEY has rights to the website http://www.DINSEY.com!  Just because it is spelled very similar to Disney doesn't mean Disney should own it.  I think the court case involving this case would have been a much harder decision if the owner of the website, http://www.dinsey.com, had a last name of Dinsey.  This would have given the person some personal interest in the name Dinsey, and therefore prevented the Disney Corporation from claiming ownership of http://www.dinsey.com.

Trademarking April 27, 2006

It is my opinion that companies, etc. get out of hand with the trademarking laws.  I can't believe that companies such as Coca Cola have people who constantly notify people who illegally utilizes their trademark.  It seems like a lot of work, for no reason!

One question I have that I could not find the answer for on the internet is: Who gets the royalties from people buying web addresses?  Is it the government?   For example, If I buy http://www.Panamared.com, who would I pay in order to own the website?

Sailing Away… April 26, 2006

Just an interesting observation from Lecture # 32…  The trend of companies to move overseas if a city, or the
U.S. as a whole, condemns their pornography business mimics the move of industrial companies overseas.  Many industrial companies have moved overseas due to the increase in cost in order to run a factory in the
United States, and the substantially lower cost it costs to maintain a factory in another nation.I found this interesting because it seems that when companies cannot make it in the
U.S. for one reason or another, they move overseas (no matter what type of company it is).

Federally Porn April 26, 2006

Why do laws concerning porn have to be different from community to community?  I know that different communities view porn differently, but making porn a federal issue (or at very least a state issue) would make for more uniform laws, that would make it easier for citizens to follow!