Teresa over at Technicalities has some thoughts on why moves to censor content on the internet are misguided:
Yes, you can block "content" with filters, but inevitably those filters are going to block valid content along with missing other content that should be blocked. Ask Dick Armey about this little problem. He's been a vocal supporter of internet filters - only to find his own web site is blocked by many of them because his name is Dick!...Lawmakers are in the position of being able to make laws about something the do not begin to comprehend. In other words they don't understand how the technology works and it is so easy to say - just pass a law and don't let them do this. They want to make laws to keep people safe (or so they claim) and therein lies the problem. Unlike telephones or televisions, the US has not got control over the internet and unless they want to try and block out other countries - they never will. So, until individual computers can be made in such a way that you the user can have more control over what is and is not displayed while browsing, there will continue to be the possibility that porn will come to your computer.
And she is right on.
The Internet was designed to be a distributed network with no "central" authority. As such, from the point of view of the Internet, censorship looks like a system failure and it simply routes around it.
As Teresa points out, there is no substitute for direct parental supervision. This is true with TV, books, movies and is certainly true of the Internet.
And frankly, the most harless stuff on the Internet is porn. Chat rooms and IRC can potentially be more threatening.
And there simply are no filters for that.
The Internet is an amazing tool that in a short period of time has become an essential in the daily lives of a vast number of people. This will not abate. Kids are growing up never knowing a world without the 'net. It's as natural to them as television and cars became to my generation. And kids are learning machines. They will be, are, much more adept at using the internet tnan most of their parents are.
Censorship is not a good response because it simply will not work. All it will do is give parents a false sense of security; a sense they can not afford. It's better that have no such illusions.
It's better they just do the hard work of parenting.
