Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrcae!ece-csc!ncsuvx!gatech!cwjcc!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!cbnews!wbt
From: wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Net.Porn ?
Keywords: porn, underage, lawsuit
Message-ID: <1278@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 22 Sep 88 14:37:22 GMT
Reply-To: wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker)
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Lines: 34

One spinoff of the recent debate about Portal has made me aware
of what could be a Real (TM) problem for Usenet. This is no joke,
and has very little to do with Portal, per se'. 

The problem lies with the availability of newsgroups such as
alt.sex to public-access sites, where these groups can be
read (and even posted to) by youngsters. Is Usenet in 
jeopard of legal action on the grounds of pandering obscenity or
contributing to the delinquency of minors ?

Given recent court action in matters such as Dial-a-Porn, and a
growing "moralist" objection to mature subject matter, I feel that
unless some measures are taken, the net stands at risk of becoming
a future target of "anti-porn" crusaders. All it would take would be
one closed-minded fundamentalist finding out that 12-year-olds with
computers and modems can get access to alt.sex, soc.motss, soc.women,
and other "adult theme" groups.

Were the net to be thus targeted, the most likely approach, given the
chaotic structure of the net, would be for the activists to focus attention
on the larger corporate contributors. Many of our employers would thus
find themselves in an unpleasant position; the effect on the net would
be obvious.

Is this a serious potential problem, or am I paranoid ?



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Bill Thacker						cbosgd!cbema!wbt
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