Speak Up Project

I caught wind of an article that states MySpace is now giving up sex offender data to the police in order to keep things secure on the site. Of course, this news is good to so many people. The TV show, To Catch A Predator, is enough evidence that there’s too much inappropriate interaction between minors and adults alone to cause most parents to ban access altogether. The problems don’t just start there.

Initially, MySpace was resistant citing privacy issues as their protection to giving up the data. Previously, the company would remove profiles that had been tagged as offenders, but that information was kept in the company. After a large demand by state attorneys general, they decided to release the names. According to an article just released today, 68 offenders have already been convicted in Kentucky. These are a small portion of the 7,000 banned names removed for sexual offenses.

Like with anything we talk about, there seems to be an uproar over the matter. A large group of people are in heavy support of the action. However others seem to be adding their voice to oppose the move.

There are a few important things going on here.

First is that the issue is being forced. It’s hard to tell exactly how to quantify the problem due to the serious debate of those who push for an unregulated Internet. One writer explained that  surveys conducted on children asking them whether they have recieved unsolicited sexual advances were inaccurate. His claims were that most of these advances were other teens, and that the kids didn’t mind them. It would be nice to see just how that conclusion was made.

Secondly there is a growing backlash of people who are not okay with technological advances taking precedence over safety and security. It seems that there are more and more excuses as to why we shouldn’t do anything about the Internet, allowing unbridled access to foul content in the name of technology and growth. Often times, these excuses are marginally related. In rebuttal to these excuses, a point could easily be defended that the solution is out there but no one wants to work on it.

This is where we like to think there is a greater problem behind the Internet pornography issue than just security. When does the problem of Internet sexual abuse and offense ever take a back seat to technological progress? Arguments could be made back and forth endlessly, but in the end what is the principle we are fighting for? I am a technophile of sorts, and am very interested in progress. I just can’t justify it at the expense of insecurity.

Too many times we believe that if we put limits on the Internet we are altogether denying ourselves of free speech. However, there are always solutions that can appease both sides of the argument with a bit of give and take. Will any degree of regulation on the Internet cause for a complete security and shield from harmful content? Of course not. However, with regulation in place, those who still seek to publish harmful content will be doing it in direct dissention of set rules and standards. Therefore, it will be much easier to make a case against offenders. With no regulation, there’s nothing saying it was wrong in the first place.

On the other hand, it’s of common belief that by putting regulatory standards on Internet content, we lop the head of free speech off and rob people of a right that is natural. Many believe that limitations will only lead to more and more control over the Internet and eventually put ultimate power in the hands of a governing body who dictates our content for us.

This argument, though valid and important, should be examined more carefully. The Internet is a tool so powerful, that I see no possible way that an over regulated Internet would exist. The backlash would be too intense. I do not see people standing for it. Knowing our world, our modern goals, and our global economy, does anyone else think that an overregulated Internet would ever exist?

I leave this argument open, and think that each side afford the other some honest consideration. In America, we enjoy many more freedoms than other countries in this world. No matter our political situation, the world at large understands that the American constitution gives its citizens a very solid basis for growth and freedom to coexist. However, what drives the progress of this country is an underlying set of standards and rules to protect the freedom and security of the people. The rule of law always presides, and provided that people get involved, becomes a powerful tool in resolving social, moral, and economic issues that are ever changing.

The Internet today is an entity of its own. An underlying set of standards could empower us to make the Internet work powerfully in our favor while simultaneously being safer with adjustment to the those aspects that are exploited by malicious people.

That’s why it’s time we speak up.

I was surfing the list of blogs that I read today to find out more about what’s going on in the blogosphere. I don’t always look at stuff pertinent to the subject matter of Speak Up, but often find things relative. Sometimes in places I never knew were opinionated about our subject.

Good Magazine put out a video that’s highly provocative about Internet porn. It’s basically a girl who’s written porn stats all over her body. As the camera pans around in suggestive ways, you find stats revealing the reality of Internet porn. Let’s get more of these out there.

12% of all websites are pornographic

25% of all search engine requests are pornographic

35% of all Internet downloads are pornographic in nature

Every second, 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography

Every second, 89$ is being spend on Internet porn

Every day, 266 new pornographic websites appear on the Internet

“Sex” is the most searched word on the Internet

U.S. revenue from porn in 2006: $2.84 billion

72% of Internet porn users are men, 28% are women.

70% of all Internet porn traffic occurs during the 9-5 workday.

There are an estimated 372 million porn web pages, 3% produced by the U.K., 4% produced by Germany, 89% produced by the U.S.

Shocking, no? Well not really because everyone sees it. It’s really in your face. Wonder what the stats are on how parents view these stats? I’d like to see those myself.

Here’s the video… drives a point home. No nudity, but it’s close.

You think you have a hold on your kids access to porn, but you probably don’t. You think that the problem isn’t that big, but it is. Read the stats.

Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography - 11 years.
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

Largest Consumer of Internet Pornography - 12-17 years.
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

15-17 year-olds having multiple hardcore exposures - 80%.
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

8-16 year-olds having viewed porn online - 90% (most while doing homework).
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

7-17 year-olds who would freely give out home address - 29%.
Internet Pornography Statistics. Internet Filter Review, 2004.

7-17 year-olds who would freely give out email address - 14%
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

“82 percent of adult Americans surveyed in March 2004 said that the Federal laws against Internet obscenity should be vigorously enforced.”
Americans STILL want federal obscenity laws enforced!  The Morality in Media Newsletter, June, 2004.

In 2004, there were 372 million pornographic Web pages, 2.5 billion emails (8% of total emails), 100 thousand Web sites offering illegal child pornography, and 72 million annual worldwide visitors to pornographic websites
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

One in 17 children ages 10-17 were threatened or harassed over the Internet in 2000
Report Statistical Highlights.  National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000.

Child pornography generates $3 billion annually
Internet Pornography Statistics.  Internet Filter Review, 2004.

“More pointedly, according to a poll conducted by UK-based charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), over 50 percent of the 2,053 polled children engaged in active Internet surfing revealed they had suffered an “unwanted experience” such as exposure to violent or pornographic material, cyber-bullying, and even sexual grooming.”
Survey Reveals Internet Dangers for Children. Monsters and Critics, 2007

There’s more if you need it.

I started a Facebook group just the other day for Speak Up Project. I knew it would be a difficult thing to get others to sign on to. Asking people to declare a stance on something is no easy task. The problem is most people don’t really have a point of view about something in the first place, so they don’t want to be responsible for owning up to that.

I can respect that, and don’t expect others to associate themselves with what they don’t know. That’s where a call to education comes in.

You see, here at Speak Up, we’re talking about a problem. The problem isn’t that the Internet is free and full of information. The problem isn’t that we’re scared of that information attacking us and holding us hostage in world of robots and microchips. We’re not doomsdayists. We actually have a positive outlook.

The problem is that we’re trying to tell people that the bad of the Internet is linked to an issue of Internet governance. Many youth don’t even know what that is. They don’t know how it affects them. As long as they get online, get what they want, and get off then they are happy.

So then why are we so concerned? For a few reasons.

1. Pornography - Pornography is known to be destructive. Sure, there are people who are going to say that they enjoy it with their spouses, or it’s something they do just some of the time. However studies prove that it has some side effects that are detrimental.

• Broken homes and marriages - So many couples break up because of pornography. Many people who have problems are less apt to solve them and more apt to go to a quick fix for pleasure. Could it be called a drug? I look at it this way… would you be upset if your spouse was cheating on you and getting his/her pleasure with another human? Then why is it okay that they’re doing it with a computer? They are still going elsewhere for pleasure, not you. They still are building up in their mind a defense against facing life’s problems. Sometimes couples fight and argue… the ones who work it out usually find out they still love each other and are able to rekindle past romances.
• Degrading to women - In a society that’s so obsessed with trying to eradicate problems with discrimination and hatred, it appalls me that we are okay with pornography. I’ve seen countless accounts of women saying how embarrassing and degrading it is for them. How can we turn our head one way and fight for the right for women to be respected and honored and then conversely allow to have pornography in our homes?
• Porn destroys productivity, it’s in the stats - CP80’s site has some interesting stats up about how porn truly effects productivity beyond the personal life. It actually effects the professional life. Sorry, but read the stats.

So we’ve said before we don’t like to take a moral stance… I mean if you’re okay with all the things I mentioned before and pornography in your home is a green light.. then that’s another story. I guess we do have to retract our point and say that we think pornography does more harm than good.

2. Security - I read an interesting article about Internet security and how amazing it is that we just trust the Internet. We hear about Identity theft, robbery, hacking, etc. all the time. I also read about how terrorist organizations are proclaiming that the Internet is a cheap and easy tool to push their terrorist efforts. They’re not shy about that.

So when did a little security ever hurt us? All at the expense of some governance?

3. Protecting rights with government is more effective than not - History proves that trying to protect rights like free speech without something to govern those rights is fruitless. I don’t know why people seem to think the Internet is different. By turning a blind eye to the issues when they crop up because we want to be able to say and do what we want, we give in to oppressive material. What happens when the number of child pornographers and people into child pornography eventually outnumber the number of measures and people willing to resolve the issue? Do we just accept it at that point?

The Internet has some amazing content, all for our use. The progress with things like Web 2.0 and open source software is proving to be an essential tool in taking technology to the people. There are ways however to make things work more effectively. We don’t need to just let the Internet happen if it starts to prove dangerous.

My Facebook group has got a bit of attention, and people are sharing their views. I like that. I don’t care if they hate or love our ideas… I think the debate only gives way to finding a solution. I think that turning people’s minds on to the idea that the Internet needs more interaction will help feed the fire that organizations like ICANN know that they should be putting out.

Have you ever heard of Digg? If not, it’s about time you did.

Digg is a social news website that empowers users to choose the content they want to read. If you like a story, you “digg” it and it moves up the chain. Only the best stories make it to the top pages for each category. Digg has been a powerful tool for infogeeks and technophiles all over the world.

Over the last week, an individual had cracked the code put in HD-DVD players that decrypts the data. This means that software can now easily be written to circumvent copy protection digital rights management. The key was owned by the MPAA according to US law. Due to this, the key has been deemed as an illegal number. Despite all this, the key was published all over the Internet.

When the key was published, Digg users did everything in their power to distribute the key and promote it to the front page. It worked. DCMA takedown notices were issued to Digg and their users promptly demanding the keys to come down due to copyright infringement. Users did not abide and Digg was left in a difficult position.

A few days later, Digg founder Kevin Rose made a statement about the position they were forced into. To quote his words:

Today was an insane day. And as the founder of Digg, I just wanted to post my thoughts…

In building and shaping the site I’ve always tried to stay as hands on as possible. We’ve always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community. Occasionally we step in to remove stories that violate our terms of use (eg. linking to pornography, illegal downloads, racial hate sites, etc.). So today was a difficult day for us. We had to decide whether to remove stories containing a single code based on a cease and desist declaration. We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code.

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.

If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

Here’s an image of what the Digg pages looked like. Click here.

Digg decided not to err on the side of caution and listen to their users. As one of the top visited websites on the Internet, this move means so much for the pacing and direction of our Internet than we have seen in a long time. By giving in to the democracy of the issue, Digg users won over the law and Digg decided not to take down the stories with the HD-DVD key.

Today a story surfaced in the Times Online about the efforts being made to take legal action against bloggers who published the key. Bloggers on the Internet have been claiming that such a matter is an issue of free speech. Despite the legal implications they are fighting for their right to spread the information.

The matter is still unresolved, and people are finding more and more reasons to confront this issue. The question is, what really is free speech? When laws are being broken, and people are suffering at the hand of “free speech” what should happen? Does free speech receive a definition that’s all too liberally applied? It’s for us to decide.

The presentation of free media on the Internet that is controlled by users has been one of the most empowering innovations of the 21st century. In a sense, the promotion of public discourse through online media an awakening experience. Whether through reality television or viral video, Internet surfers are finding more and more entertainment and information that’s generated by their piers. This lack of filtering and editing in much of the media is a problem for some.
These “some” we’re talking about are foreign governments like those of Thailand. In an article put out yesterday by the International Herald Tribune, Thai officials are in a heated battle with YouTube about how to regulate the content that their citizens can access. Surfacing videos highlighting some anti-government propoganda are being accessed by the people of Thailand. The growing uneasiness has been spreading accross other boundaries as well, and different cultures are finding fault with the online video service’s unbridled access to content on the Internet.

There’s a moral conundrum shouting in the face of restraint here. It seems that everyone is terribly hands off about regulating the Internet for the sake of promoting total free speech. Who controls the Internet? What right do they have to that power?

What stands today is that ICANN indirectly controls the access to much of the Internet content that is causing this uproar. ICANN has the ability to control the structuring of the web. In its current state, domains and addresses are all available to users across the globe who get a dial up or more. The speedy pace of technology is making it more possible for youth and adults to access the web on their private devices.

By not taking any action at all, this freedom of information is proving to cause a serious problem in many different demographics of the world. People are claiming that this is a natural evolution. The anarchic qualities of the Internet give way to unparalelled progression. If those tools were to be bound into submission, then we would be robbing people of free speech.

However, the global attitude toward communication and free speech is not always in sync. Many countries frown upon the free distribution of pornographic content on the Internet. Other’s are uneasy at the public mocking of their civic leaders. By letting things like YouTube become a privately accessible forum for individuals to defy the standards set forth by the country they live in, hostilites toward the Internet grow.

The question is does this battle give way to solving a problem?

We’ll be exploring this topic and getting the voices of those who have been in this arena for a long time. What do they think? What are some of the solutions? Stick around to find out more.

What if studies said that pornography would ruin your life? Would you believe them? Role play with me for a second.

What if there was a study that said using pornography would drive a wedge into your relationship and ruined it? Would you still get involved? Is it that important to you? What if studies proved that it made you susceptible to multiple psychological and social problems? What if studies proved that pornography was not only harmful to the individual, but to the society as well? Would you choose pornography over love if it had to be that way?

So knowing that it could ruin your relationships, hurt your family, and harm you socially, would you still do it? Would it be that good and that worth it?

Well, studies have proven this…

CALGARY, March 12, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A new study has found that viewing pornography is harmful to the viewer and society. In a meta-analysis (a statistical integration of all existing scientific data), researchers have found that using pornographic materials leads to several behavioral, psychological and social problems.

One of the most common psychological problems is a deviant attitude towards intimate relationships such as perceptions of sexual dominance, submissiveness, sex role stereotyping or viewing persons as sexual objects. Behavioral problems include fetishes and excessive or ritualistic masturbation. Sexual aggressiveness, sexually hostile and violent behaviours are social problems as well as individual problems that are linked to pornography.

“Our findings are very alarming”, said Dr. Claudio Violato one of the co-authors of the study. Dr. Violato, Director of Research at the National Foundation for Family Research and Education (NFFRE) and a professor at the University of Calgary, said “This is a very serious social problem since pornography is so widespread nowadays and easily accessible on the internet, television, videos and print materials”.

Studies have shown that almost all men and most women have been exposed to pornography. An increasing number of children are also being exposed to explicitly sexual materials through mass media. The rise in sexual crimes, sexual dysfunction and family breakdown may be linked to the increased availability and use of pornography. The rape myth (belief that women cause and enjoy rape, and that rapists are normal) is very widespread in habitual male users of pornography according to the study.

“There has been some debate among researchers about the degree of negative consequences of habitual use of pornography, but we feel confident in our findings that pornography is harmful”, Violato noted. “Our study involved more than 12,000 participants and very rigorous analyses. I can think of no beneficial effects of pornography whatsoever. As a society we need to move towards eradicating it”.

The authors of the study concluded that exposure to pornography puts viewers at increased risk for developing sexually deviant tendencies, committing sexual offences, experiencing difficulties in intimate relationships, and accepting of the rape myth. Dr. Elizabeth Oddone-Paolucci and Dr. Mark Genuis, researchers at the National Foundation for Family Research and Education, are co-authors of the study that was published in the scientific journal Mind, Medicine and Adolescence.

Article quoted from here.

Frankly it’s debatable that this term even truly holds weight. The truth is that there are a number of people out there who maintain that the Internet is completely decentralized. What controls the Internet, and who makes decisions about what happens on the Internet? Personally it sounds a bit like using the word organized anarchy to me.

Well, there actually is a governing body called ICANN. ICANN stands for “The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers”. What this means is that ICANN controls the technological organization of the Internet through managing the structure of addresses and ports. Here’s their Mission Statement taken from their site.

The mission of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (”ICANN”) is to coordinate, at the overall level, the global Internet’s systems of unique identifiers, and in particular to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet’s unique identifier systems. In particular, ICANN:

1. Coordinates the allocation and assignment of the three sets of unique identifiers for the Internet, which are

a. Domain names (forming a system referred to as “DNS”);

b. Internet protocol (”IP”) addresses and autonomous system (”AS”) numbers; and

c. Protocol port and parameter numbers.

2. Coordinates the operation and evolution of the DNS root name server system.

3. Coordinates policy development reasonably and appropriately related to these technical functions.

On a basic level, this means that ICANN does not make policy based on the content of the Internet, but simply controls how it is all structured. This, in effect provides ICANN with power to make decisions based on content without taking responsibility for it. Is this fair?

Here’s my proposal. It’s important for each person to decide for themselves exactly what Internet Governance should be. Should there be a multi-national body that agrees on terms universally set? Should the Internet be completely chaotic? Is the Internet in a perfect state as-is? Whatever your ideas are, you must make a personal decision.

Governing the Internet with laws may make people feel like their information is getting restricted by a body of people who may not properly represent the true voice of the people. However complete Internet anarchy will not protect people from content that is harmful. What’s your stance?

Thinking about writing for this blog has taxed my mind unlike any other. Trying to strike a balance between prudence and honesty tends to sytematically cancel out most of the thought provoking ideas I come up with. It just tells me that maybe I shouldn’t be prudent, or perhaps honest.

Well, surely I will never let honesty suffer at the expense of prudence.

This blog will be about Internet governance, freedom of speech, freedom of information, the question about pornography on the Internet, the effects of communication without boundaries both good and bad, the exposure of those who “run” the Internet, and whatever else I deem as appropriately interesting and specifically pertaining to the matter.

This is your Internet, but as of right now you have no control and all the control in the world at the very same time.

You have no control because the haphazard way of regulating the internet gives way to a “hands-off” approach at protection. There are too many things that can be said without consequence. I think of a time one of my old room mates who served in Iraq decided to show me videos of people getting their heads blown off… as a joke. Where maybe his desensitized view of death made it humourous, I was bothered. I had to wonder, “how does this stuff make it online?

However, you have complete control because the Internet depends on you to thrive. The fact that I can start a blog like this, get people to read it, and generate opinions about what I do is purely indicative of the raw power that resides online. I can say something real personal, and if enough people take to it, it can become a standard. You have complete control because people will listen to you, sometimes to your expense.

The modern day thrust towards bigger, better, faster, and more is fed by the Internet. I will explore the ideas behind how this works. I will explore the different measures that are or are not being taken to protect us from letting the Internet get completely out of hand. I will reveal the strengths of the tools we have and expose their abilities to make us better. I will also try to point out its failures and weaknesses, and provide an option for solutions to allowing the information to take over the user.

I’m no expert, but I have a voice and I have the Internet. According to our standard today, that more than qualifies me to be an authority on these matters.