Non CSCC related.
John,
Your logic is confusing. You describe how "pornography" (a word that, IMO, is over-/mis-used)has been a significant technological driver, and then go on to criticize its existence on the internet. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Everything comes with a price. Are you against technological advancement?
Sex is definitely right near the top of the list when it comes to motivating human behavior. And technology usually advances to meet new needs or overcome obstacles to old ones. (Perfume created much of the modern chemical industry back in the 1800's, for example. Explosives and fertilizer created the rest.) The many religious and social taboos towards sexuality combined with the impact of mass media and its unrealistic portrayals of "beauty", and what is required for sexual fulfillment, will continue to be the "obstacle" that will drive many technologies for years to come as people seek to fulfill basic, normal, human drives and urges. Negativists never seem to realize that the one sure way to encourage any particular behavior in a large population is to make it taboo.
You wrote, "Charging the ISPs a per-minute fee is a great idea. It will keep all the porno fiends off the internet." Well, read this article if you think the poor little phone companies haven't profited from "porno fiends." economist.com
Internet usage may have increased the load for RBOC's, but it isn't as if the ISP's hook up for free. And many RBOC's are starting their own ISP divisions as well as receiving royalties from marketing hardware to the ISP's they do business with.
The effect of surfing for x-rated pictures on bandwidth is overplayed by people with rigid points of view who need simple scapegoats for complex problems. The argument over fee models that will ensure a viable internet is a legitimate topic for debate, but suggesting that an across the board rate increase is justified because it will "keep the porno fiends off the internet" is asinine. And besides, the internet isn't about "generating revenue". Everything society and government do shouldn't be about profit.
If you think that you are somehow being forced to subsidize "porno fiends" via your phone bill and "defacto government subsidization" then there must be a lot of other things about life on this planet that make you very unhappy.
Are you mad that you might be subsidizing "history fiends" by paying taxes that support national monuments? Are you mad that you might be subsidizing "breathing fiends" because a bunch of freeloaders breathe more than their fair share of cleaner air thanks to the EPA and your tax dollars?
Or maybe you own a phone company. God knows, most of the RBOC's are at the brink of bankruptcy because of the internet and how damn cheap access is for all those perverts.
John, maybe you should buy a ranch, start a cult and stockpile some ammo and walkie talkies. That way, when society and the RBOC's crumble under the oppressive weight of the "porno fiends" you'll be ready.
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