Internet censorship in the free world [Archive] - Ron Paul Forums / Liberty Forest

giskard

10-22-2007, 11:43 AM

Here's more

New York, NY (AP)

After pressure from national parent groups, web hosting companies like Yahoo, Lewis Media, GoDaddy, Freewebs, Site Ground, Media Factured, and many others reported today that they will be cracking down on open forums that permit vulgar language and sexual content. The pressure came after parent groups complained that they could easily view forums that allow members to post using vulgar language and post images of nudity and sexual content. The groups reported that there were no safeguards or passwords required to get to this information and there was no authentication of age to get to these sites. Parent groups are expected to take their complaints to Congress in this session which will fuel the debate concerning web site ratings. Web hosting companies responded to the complaints by reporting that they have been cracking down on open forums that permit this kind of behavior by terminating their service, banning the owners and moderators from creating new forums, and then reporting their findings to Congress. The hosts reported that they have already ended some 250 accounts in the last month and will continue to be diligent with this. Some also said that activity on forums that seems unlawful can and will be reported to the owner’s local police agencies. The web hosting companies did stipulate that forums that are password protected or require age authentication to view, will be unaffected.

A. Franklin
Copyright, Associated Press, September 2007