Republicans preparing to charge you $20 to view porn on your own computer

Started by Hydra009, April 11, 2017, 10:06:09 PM

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Hydra009



QuoteConservative lawmakers in over a dozen states are pushing a bill that would force consumers to pay a ransom to access pornography.

The Human Trafficking Prevention Act, if passed, would apply a pornography filter to any device, from laptops to cellphones to routers, that connects to the internetâ€"and would levy a $20 tax to remove it from each one. The bill mandates all manufacturers of internet-connected devices maintain separate, 24-7 call centers to make sure obscene material is appropriately labeled.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/11/anti-porn-warrior-behind-the-porn-filter-bill-has-a-tangled-legal-history.html

Confusingly, this bill has the exact same name as a 2014 bill which seems intended to actually help fight human trafficking.

This bill (or rather, these bills, since multiple states have proposed their own versions) is not like that bill in the same way that Circus Balls Cereal is not like Trix.  It's an cheap imitation, it's not fooling anyone, and it's totally not worth saving 50¢ at checkout.

Instead of fighting human trafficking, bills like this are intended to fight "the growing epidemic of dissemination of pornographic images and the resulting demand for human trafficking" - there are a hell of a lot of assumptions here that are just plain wrong. 

First off, calling it an "epidemic" is a tad hyperbolic.  If no one actually has to go to the hospital except one guy who unwisely tried a 36-hour marathon, calling it an epidemic is a bit misleading.  Second, thanks for using "dissemination" in that sentence.  The jokes practically write themselves.  Third, the resulting demand for human trafficking??  I don't what you guys think is going on, but I'm reasonably sure that looking at some NSFW artwork doesn't result in anyone getting abducted.  I'm pretty sure the only people getting hurt by this are the artist's wrist and possibly other people's wrists.

And even if these bills weren't absolutely mental (not to mention at odds with the Republican portrayal of themselves as against government regulation and pro individual freedom) enforcing this sort of jackbooted moral guardianship (at taxpayer expense) could be very hard difficult to implement.

QuoteWilliams said 13 other states including South Carolina are also currently looking at bills to block porn access on devices sold in-state. The problem is how to accomplish that. Either an arrangement would have to be struck with electronics companies to implement hardware or software to block explicit web content or it would have to be done by someone else further along the consumer chain. Williams said that he's aware of the challenges of implementing a statewide block on content that couldn't be circumvented by getting a VPN, proxy, or a computer shipped from another state.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2017/04/06/bill-would-block-access-porn-alabama/100142500/

Apparently, this block would not only be a headache for manufacturers and consumers, it'd be trivially easy to break.  Aggravating, ineffectual, and kinda authoritarian - just like the current state of the Republican Party.  Have fun standing up for Jeezus, tilting at whatever windmill is your villain today.  Just don't be surprised when you guys have to pack your bags in 2-4 years.

Baruch

Hahaha ... the worst porn of all is political ideology.  Implicit fear porn and snuff porn.  We need the barbarian armies to come and cut off the male gonads of the male puritans, so they can forget having normal sex, and thus be sinless ... bwahaha ... and they can be made useful as servants in our harems ;-)

On another planet, Bill Gates has trademarked "e" ... everyone using "e" will have to pay him a dollar, each time they use it (that sentence just cost me $13).
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

GrinningYMIR

I look at a lot of porn. Take that away from me and I'll be mad.
"Human history is a litany of blood shed over differing ideals of rulership and afterlife"<br /><br />Governor of the 32nd Province of the New Lunar Republic. Luna Nobis Custodit

Atheon

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca

fencerider

conservatives were always good at mental masterbation, but they don't ever call it that....

human traffickin is mostly to do with forcing underage girls into prostitution by holding some kind of threat over their heads. I guess thats a little bit of hillbilly logic to connect porn with trafficking. Or maybe somebody just got mad about all those porn videos slowin down their internet connection.
"Do you believe in god?", is not a proper English sentence. Unless you believe that, "Do you believe in apple?", is a proper English sentence.

Mr.Obvious

"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Munch

'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Mr.Obvious

A friend of mine has been on the deep web once.

It sounds like a scary place.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Munch

Sure, but it's also a way of blocking your I.P, just with the risk of coming across something disturbing

If conservatives are gonna go Orwellian on us, it becomes a necessity to take such risks
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Cavebear

If the Republicans name a Bill, it 100% means the opposite.  When the Democrats name a Bill, it is at least 50/50 to mean what it says.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Gawdzilla Sama

DISH, Direct, etc., provide plenty of softcore porn. And the underground will find ways around this. I know folks who would pay $40 to avoid giving the misadministration $20.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

SGOS

God bless the Republicans for their priorities.  Meanwhile, other standards of living continue to decline.  But that doesn't seem to be a concern.

SGOS

The internet, in spite of the porn, was just to popular to the public without the government demanding a share, be it for the potential revenue or the obsession to exert control in something big.

The Skeletal Atheist

Small GovernmentTM*

*offer does not apply to nonwhites, women, poor, LGBT, nonchristians, or immigrants.
Some people need to be beaten with a smart stick.

Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid!

Kein Mitlied F�r Die Mehrheit!