I was flying home last night and sat next to a gentleman that talked to me the entire time. Normally, I’m not one to talk on flights but this was quite an interesting conversation. Topics ranged across the board from Abraham Lincoln to religion to global warming. And it is global warming on which I would like to discuss, well sort of.
First off I won’t tell you what each of us thought about global warming. It is irrelevant to this discussion. What I would like to talk about was something that we both agreed upon, and that was the important thing, we both agreed.
Global warming has been a constant discussion point in the news and politics over the last decade. It is either true or it isn’t, there is no middle ground. Both sides have their studies, both sides have their arguments, but they will never agree. These arguments have become so entertaining that Michael Crichton even wrote a book about it (State of Fear. I highly recommend it). But what is the point of the argument, there will always be conflicting sides to global warming discussion, but one thing I think we all agree on, as was the case with my co-flyer, we want to breath clean air and drink clean water.
Instead of arguing about whether global warming exists, we should work on solving a problem that we all agree needs to be fixed. I think it is just a bonus that it also solves the global warming problem (right or wrong).
Showing posts with label Government Regulation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Government Regulation. Show all posts
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thursday, June 26, 2008
New website, but what is it rated?
In 1922, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was formed. Its international counterpart the Motion Picture Association (MPA) was founded in 1945. Together they "serve as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries, domestically through the MPAA and internationally through the MPA. Today, these associations represent not only the world of theatrical film, but serve as leader and advocate for major producers and distributors of entertainment programming for television, cable, home video and future delivery systems not yet imagined." (1) Starting in November 1968, the MPAA started to rate films based on the films content. Today we have the ratings of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17.
In 1997, the TV Parental Guidelines was enacted by the FCC to provide ratings to TV content and applies to most broadcast and cable programming. It was intended to work with the V-chip that was built into televisions after 2000 to allow parents to block content on their TVs. Ratings include: TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA.
As we see different forms of media have provided a rating system to allow parents and individuals to get an understanding of what the content is in the. I have given examples of different forms of "visual" media. Would it be too much to ask that a ranking system be put in place for the Internet? In order to rate the Internet a few questions need to be answered first: 1) who would do the rating, 2) who would enforce it, and 3) how is it useful? For two of those questions, I think the FCC would be the answer.
The FCC would provide guidelines on what types of images, words, or content would qualify for each ranking. They would also be responsible for handing out fines to the website owners and web hosting companies that provide space for the websites. The FCC could also work in conjunction with other governments to create a global standard of website ratings.
Once websites have been rated (within a reasonable timeframe), parents or other individuals could them block certain rated material from entering their homes. This would allow parents to protect their child from content they find unsuitable. It would be similar to how the V-chip works.
There are some potential problems with this idea. First, how long and how much would it cost to implement this rating system? Who is to interrupt who certain content is to be ranked? What is one country doesn't follow the ranking system? Those are some of the areas that need to be worked out, but they are manageable.
I understand that that is only a brief list of potential problems and someone is always going to find a way around it, but at least it is a start. It isn't a new idea. They have done it with movies. They have done it with television. Why can't they do it with the internet?
(1) http://www.mpaa.org/AboutUs.asp
In 1997, the TV Parental Guidelines was enacted by the FCC to provide ratings to TV content and applies to most broadcast and cable programming. It was intended to work with the V-chip that was built into televisions after 2000 to allow parents to block content on their TVs. Ratings include: TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA.
As we see different forms of media have provided a rating system to allow parents and individuals to get an understanding of what the content is in the. I have given examples of different forms of "visual" media. Would it be too much to ask that a ranking system be put in place for the Internet? In order to rate the Internet a few questions need to be answered first: 1) who would do the rating, 2) who would enforce it, and 3) how is it useful? For two of those questions, I think the FCC would be the answer.
The FCC would provide guidelines on what types of images, words, or content would qualify for each ranking. They would also be responsible for handing out fines to the website owners and web hosting companies that provide space for the websites. The FCC could also work in conjunction with other governments to create a global standard of website ratings.
Once websites have been rated (within a reasonable timeframe), parents or other individuals could them block certain rated material from entering their homes. This would allow parents to protect their child from content they find unsuitable. It would be similar to how the V-chip works.
There are some potential problems with this idea. First, how long and how much would it cost to implement this rating system? Who is to interrupt who certain content is to be ranked? What is one country doesn't follow the ranking system? Those are some of the areas that need to be worked out, but they are manageable.
I understand that that is only a brief list of potential problems and someone is always going to find a way around it, but at least it is a start. It isn't a new idea. They have done it with movies. They have done it with television. Why can't they do it with the internet?
(1) http://www.mpaa.org/AboutUs.asp
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