From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 04:50:53 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: V-Chip Settings Escrow
Message-ID: <ad40e8053202100460b1@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 7:03 PM 2/9/96, Alexander Chislenko wrote:

>  Now if your child wants to go over to Billy's, you may want to call
>Billy's mom and ask her what her V-Chip settings are.
>Do not forget to ask her when was the last time she beat Billy at any computer
>game...

It seems to me that by the logic--and possibly the direct language--of the
Communications Decency Act, parents who "expose" the children of others to
higher levels of V-Chip ratings than they get at home would themselves be
liable.

Plus, how long will it be before Children's Protective Services interviews
children at their schools to determine if parents have set their V-Chip
levels too high?

Will divorcing parents demand specific V-Chip settings when the kids are at
the ex-spouse's place? Or use the V-Chip settings in custody battles? ("My
ex-husband has a setting of 2-3-2, according to my son, and I find this
completely unacceptable.")

Maybe we'll see "V-Chip Settings Escrow."  "Under this system, V-Chip
settings must be voluntarily escrowed with Child Protective Services.
Should an incident of abuse be alleged, the escrowed V-Chip settings can be
examined by social service workers for evidence of deviant viewing
behaviors."

--Tim May

Boycott espionage-enabled software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."