|
I've put a lot of thought into the recent crackdowns, but also who has been doing them - certainly not the generation that grew up with the internet. Of all the people who are making these draconian restrictions, nearly every one of them fits the typical profile of an elected official, most notably on the age grounds: these people grew up with adult bookstores, and consequently see the internet as an expansion of existing pornography - that is why these draconian restrictions target internet pornography, since it is the omnipresent extention of the local XXX bookstore into every house, school, and workplace. What typically what a store in the bad section of town, has now extended into every location with internet connectivity, and these restrictions are a reaction by the "ruling class" - the congressmen, senior bureaucrats, and others who are of a socially conservative persuasion, and seeking to keep pornography resticted to how it was before the new-fangled internet spread it all over society.
With that said, I see .xxx as a more enduring problem. 2257 is a recordskeeping regulation, and is easily repealed once a more progressive administration takes power. However, the forcing of all adult webmasters in [pick your jurisdiction] into the .xxx ghettos is far more damaging in the long run. After time, porn sites build up bookmarkers and name identity, and thus would not want to change the identity of their whole operation when a .xxx requirement law/rule goes away.
.xxx also has the potential for nongovernmental abuse. 2257 is between the models, the publishers, and the DOJ, whereas .xxx is for the world to see. Search engines will be able now to segregate all legitimate porn sites in one measure, and so will processors. Centralizing the porn will make it easier for the ISPs, governments, and connection owners (think shared lines - apartments, universities, etc) to censor it. Furthermore, ISPs might fall victim to draconian local statutes requiring filtering of .xxx within one specific locality, especially one where "community standards" might ban adult bookstores already, or tax them heavily.
Draconian .xxx rules can also be extended across international boundries by different governments and ICANN, whereas 2257 is only a problem for those operating in the US.
In short, both are bad, .xxx is worse in the long run, whereas 2257 is bad in the short run.
|