[P.S:
I had made a reference to "Adult Pass" as one of the suggestions to regulation
of por.nography in my previous article. Some have sent me a request to
elaborate on the same. Hence this article.]
Por.nography is an
evil of the times in which we live in. It cannot be ignored that many consider
it as acceptable and even desirable. However, there is also a significant
number of people including the undersigned who hold the conservative view that
Por.nography is detrimental to the society.
It has therefore
become necessary to find a way to "Regulate" porn.ography in a manner
that both schools of thought are satisfied.
In a way just like
"Terrorism" is a reality with which we should learn to live with, Por.nography
is a reality with which our society may have to learn to live with.
In this
connection, I made two suggestions in my previous article
Should We
Legalize Porn?.. which I elaborate here for more clarity.
Accepting that
it is not possible to eliminate "porn.ography" from the Internet, the first
suggestion is to create an exclusive zone for "porn.ography content" through
an exclusive domain name. In the Indian context, I suggest that the domain
name can have an extension .xxx.in. Registration can be thrown open worldwide
and registrars can make enormous money.
Simultaneously,
law against such objectionable stuff in the regular internet zone which we may
call as the sanitized zone may be made stricter. Any posting of objectionable
content outside the exclusive zone should be punished severely.
Also all ISP s
in India should incorporate filters which prohibit automatic entry into the .xxx.in
zone which we may call the "Adult Zone". Entry to this zone should be made
available only with a digital certificate which acts as the "Adult Pass".
"Adult Pass"
will be a new category of digital certificates which will incorporate the
"Age" of the certificate holder after due verification.
The next
question we need to address is if this "Adult Pass" should be only an "Age
Certification" or should it be a regular digital certificate that can be used
for contractual requirements. I recommend that the certificate should be one
which can be used for all contractual dealings. The reasons for this
suggestion are two fole.
1. The user
will need to have only one certificate whether he wants to use it for
contractual identity and transactions or for entry into the adult zone. There
is no need for dual certificates.
2. If the
certificates are separated, then there will be an abuse of the system with
adult passes being sold to minors for a price. If the pass also entitles the
holder to create obligations for the digital certificate holder, then no
person will be bold enough to lend his digital certificate to another for
being used as an adult pass.
Again, such
adult passes can be a business in India and also abroad since after such a
system is introduced in India, we may shut off the entire adult stuff through
ISP level filters. (The debate on whether this is technically feasible may be
continued elsewhere.)
I hope that a
discussion on legalizing por.n, or strengthening the anti obscenity laws in
India should be taken up along with the above suggestions for "Regulations" as
a mid path.
Naavi
July 13, 2005
(Comments
welcome)
Related
Articles:
Should We
Legalize Porn?... Naavi.org
Legalize
por.n?..TOI
Cultural Policing- Creating a Red Light Area on Cyber Space..
Naavi.org
