Re: Moral/religion issues

>>Child pornography is against the law. <snip> I believe that the
>>HWG would be doing a great public service to offer information to
>>concerned parents about how they can protect their children from
>>child pornography.
>
>This is precisely the reason I feel this list should keep away from any
>moral/religion issues.

In my opinion, this is not a moral/religious issue. This is a public
service. Think about it. Child pornography is against the law. It is not a
healthy activity for children and the truth is that the Internet poses a
very real threat to children in this regard.

Also, I have seen several TV shows (well actually I overheard them. I don't
watch TV) featuring a story about some appalled mother finding porn on her
kid's computer or about some kid who was lured away from his home by an
offer of free bus tickets.  News shows eat this up.

Now let's think about the impression this leaves on all those people who do
not yet have the internet in their homes. Many of them are prime prospects
for Set-top boxes (WebTV) and their audience will make many of us a lot of
money.

But hold on.

"I don't want one of those evil boxes in *my* home. I saw on (insert TV show
here) that my kid can see Pamela's wild sex home video on it or get lured
into some trap by a guy offering free bus pass tickets. No sir, not in this
family. You can keep your Internet box, thank you very much."

Do Not Kid Yourself. This is a very real impression that some parents have.
If we do not do our part to compensate for this, we facilitate the
proliferation of these opinions. In the end, this reduces our potential
audience.

Taking no stand on this issue is demonstrating irresponsibility, taking an
ostridge stance. I, for one, do not choose this stance. It leaves one quite
vulnerable to a rear end attack.  ;)

> Before we know it we'll be discussing porn, sex
>orientation, adultery and who knows what else.

That's a cleaver argument, but it is based on assumptions that we cannot
handle those issues should they come up. Are you, Eva, going to allow any
one of those issues go by unnoticed? I think not.

Get this straight; there are many in the public who are of the opinion that
the Internet is a dangerous place for their children. We have an opportunity
to educate their concerns and assist the Internet with its exponential
growth. IMO, this is both in our own best interest and that of the public's.

Regards,
Demitrius >I<
------------------------------------------------A. Demitrius Lopez
       W  E  B  S  I  T  E     D  E  V  E  L  O  P  E  R
                   I'd appreciate your vote
               to the HWG Governing Board
http://www.hwg.org/election1998/lopez.html
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