mad anthony

Rants, politics, and thoughts on politics, technology, life,
and stuff from a generally politically conservative Baltimoron.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Peer to peer and kiddie porn...

You got to like the fact that the National Review can disagree with themselves. I agree with Adler that Nance and crew are wrong that peer to peer file sharing (Kaazza, Grokster, et al) should be banned because they are used to facilitate child porn transfer. Their complaint is that peer to peer albums have a hands-off attitude to what files are traded on their networks so they don't get sued for coppered violations - and that means that child porn can be exchanged on them as well. They believe that P2P should be shut down for faciliating the transfer of child porn.

They are probably right that it is easier to transfer child porn thanks to p2p. But there are lots of technological advancements that make it easier to create and transfer child porn.

Some examples:
-digital video cameras
-vcr's and dvd players
-cd burners and dvd burners
-the internet
-IRC and newsgroups
-Windows XP
-flash drives
-digital cameras
-compact flash memory

... and a host of other things. If we crack down on peer-to-peer because it facilitates child porn transfers, then are we starting a slippery slope. Will we ban VCR's because they can be used to watch kiddie porn, or video cameras because they can tape it? Or Photoshop and iMovie because it can be used to edit it? Will people have to start showing ID before they buy a camcorders?

When we start banning technology for what it can do, or might do, or is sometimes used for, we are overstepping the bounds of what government should do, and setting a dangerous precedent.

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