From: owner-cypherpunks@toad.com
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 22:03:31 +0800
Subject: No Subject
Message-ID: <QQacwt11266.199602141348@relay3.UU.NET>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



It's real simple folks. Turn the damn set off.

If parents wont accept the responsiblity to monitor what their kids 
watch, then they get what they get. If I don't want my kids watching 
television when I am gone, then I take the remote with me, as that is the 
only way my TV works.

The V-chip, like every other type of electronic lockbox devised to date, 
is nothing more than a band aid trying to cover the real problem - lack 
of attention paid to one's children and what they are doing. A 
govermental solution designed to regulate and legislate morality. History 
has demonstrated that every time a government makes attempts to enforce 
what is considered the basic tenants of civilized behavior then the game 
has already been lost. The people and the politics have become so 
corrupted that no form of democracy will survive for long - as it is 
dependant on the individual's willingness to abide by the principle of 
personal honesty.

On Sun, 11 Feb 1996, Alan Olsen wrote:

> At 08:13 PM 2/11/96 -0800, Bill Frantz wrote:
> >The Dranged Mutand is far from deranged when he writes:
> >
> >At 12:09 PM 2/11/96 -0500, Deranged Mutant wrote:
> >...
> >
> >>And besides... why rate program just on violence?  Why not "quality" from 
> >>a variety of orgs?  Other content ratings, from various organizations.  
> >
> >...
> >
> >One thing the V-Chip gives us is the argument:  Now that parents have the
> >ability to control what their children watch, the government should turn
> >responsibility over to them and butt out.
> 
> Parents had that ability before.  Cable boxes have a "perental control key"
> on the side that enables them to lock out "offensive" channels.  It works
> quite well and is fairly hard for the kidlets to defeat.  (I used it to
> lockout the religious stations and home shopping channels.)
> 
> The "V-Chip" debate is a mirror of the one that occured when the cable
> channels were starting to become popular.  There was a big hue and cry about
> kids getting to the "naughty" channels without parent concent.  Seems most
> people do not even learn how the lockouts work.  (And are too lazy to learn.)
> 
> You have to remember that most of the people arguing for TV filters are
> looking for a way to make the "offensive" stuff go away for good.  (Either
> from some sort of rating system or a heavy handed FCC regulation or two.)
> And don't believe that the V-Chip will let you choose the rating service.
> It will be one centrally produced rating from some faceless and nameless
> entity.  I am willing to bet that we will see some pretty absurd examples of
> ratings (mild things getting heavy ratings above and beyond the call of
> sanity) in the future.
> 
> The v-chip will be less than useful as a real filter tool for those of us
> who have a different worldview than the censors.
> 
> Remember: "Future events like these will happen to you in the future!"
> ---
> Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
>         `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
>                 http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
>   "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon
> "I, Caligula Clinton... In the name of the Senate and the people of Rome!"
>    - Bill Clinton signing the CDA with the First Amendment bent over.
> 
>