Irish Domain Registry Banning Adult Domains 222
Karate Sid writes "An Irish adult website has blogged about the Irish domain registry banning adult domain names, including porn.ie and pornography.ie. The IEDR's reasoning is that the words 'porn' and 'pornography' are offensive and immoral. Of interest is how Sex.ie took legal action against the IEDR — and proved that neither word is offensive — yet still lost the case, as the IEDR are the highest authority in Ireland when it comes to deciding what is and isn't an offensive domain."
Reminds me of Goatse (Score:3, Interesting)
Bypass (Score:1, Interesting)
But it's still OK to register rn.ie, and set up a po subdomain, and launch your new site Pornie!
Very effective, Ireland.
Re:Not so big an issue (Score:5, Interesting)
Really. Who gives a shit? Nobody should.
[snip]
It's still a government trying to tell its people what words they should and should not see, which is censorship and something to notice and oppose.
I give a shit, precisely because it's not government [cctldinfo.com] performing these actions. I get worried whenever an autonomous body takes it on itself to be an arbiter of public morals, and even the courts refuse to step into the fray.
I've a number of personal reasons for finding this particular story interesting. My parents and extended family are Irish, and some of them have been fighting for a generation against the reactionary inclinations of some elements of Irish society. (That's half the reason I was born in Canada.) This sanctimonious approach to 'dirty' subjects is typical of the kind of thing that makes even a polite discussion about morality nearly impossible. How can you talk about something if you can't even use the word that most aptly describes it?
Second, I'm coordinating work on the creation of a governance mechanism for a ccTLD in the developing world. Society here is very conservative in nature, and this is exactly the kind of object lesson we need to learn from.
You may not find this an interesting or enlightening topic, but those of us who care about the places where technology and society intersect find stories like this fascinating, challenging and yes, definitely news for nerds.
Re:Cool (Score:1, Interesting)
Yes, birth control was only legalized in 1979, and abortion is largely unavailable and must be obtained by travelling to England.
Re:Not so big an issue (Score:5, Interesting)
It's still a government trying to tell its people what words they should and should not see, which is censorship and something to notice and oppose.
The irish constitution [taoiseach.gov.ie] has some dangerous weasel-wording in it around that area. Lately it's been taken that european/international human rights law trumps more problematic aspects of the constitution, and it's important to remember that basically no sane irish person takes mere human law entirely seriously in the first place, but it just isn't particularly wonderful as constitutions go. May still better than still being ruled by the British I guess (I mean just look at Jacqui Smith...)...
6. 1. The State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject to public order and morality.
i. The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.
The education of public opinion being, however, a matter of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavour to ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State.
The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.
Re:Not so big an issue (Score:3, Interesting)
Or the Roman mythology? They tell me that if I'm wrong by my girlfriend (i.e. she cheated) I have the right to slaughter a cow, bathe in its blood, and curse her. Do you think the government will let me get away with that?
No? So then we don't truly have freedom of religion.
Re:just move out of Ireland? (Score:3, Interesting)
If (if, if, if) it ever came down to that, there is plenty of room for people like you. I would like to think that not every man would *need* to stand on the front lines, if such a thing could even apply in such a war.
Those that go to the "we will fight" even if they win, will fail. Fighting against something isn't enough. There has to be a plan way beyond that.
If someone says "I don't like the government, I will kill them", what do they plan for after that? Nothing. They have no plan, other than resisting what they don't like. Some sort of government is required to guide the people. We have the wonders of a capitalist society right now. People need, so someone else makes and sells. All is fine and dandy until ... well ... we're seeing the drawbacks of that. People need housing, yet housing is unaffordable. People need transportation, but they can't afford a car. They can't ride a horse. They can't walk because necessities are too wide spread. Greed has taken capitalism and brought us to the brink of of failure. The golden rule applies. He who has the gold makes the rule. It should be, the more intelligent people make the guidelines to which we live, for the benefit of society.
I'd love to go to a homeless shelter and say, "I will take every willing man and woman. We will build shelter together, and we will grow your food." That won't work. Land is owned, and people can't just say "I need 100 acres to help these people. These 100 acres aren't being used." Is it wrong to want to help people in such a way? They are working, and they are being paid for their work. It may or may not be in gold or dollars, but they are being paid. Of course, our government will want their cut. They want to tax because they use the land. They want to tax because they have improved the land. They want to tax because they have made a product (the food). They want to tax because the product was sold (food produced and sold to those who made the food). It quickly becomes unsustainable. Even a small utopian camp would be taxed out of existance, unless they had a rich benefactor (i.e., he with the gold). It would then grow into what I mentioned before. Peace through superior firepower. These subversives aren't paying their taxes. The would be arrested (nice men with guns), tried for tax evasion, trespassing, non-licensed food production, etc. The homeless you've given a better way to live are now back where they started jailed, and then homeless once released.
It's a game we can't win. I'm on the edge of it, as most of us are. I work hard, I make some money, and I will never be "he with the gold", therefore I will never make the rule.
So, we continue... until something happens.
I've read a few news stories about the government now trying to control and evict people from homeless "tent cities". Previously employed people who now can't afford anything, who just need a place to live are told they can't even live in a tent. I wish I knew what they (the government) expected all of us to do. Get a job? Jobs are fewer and fewer. Buy a house? Not without a job. Buy food? Not without a job. Get a job then. How?
I'm not one of the homeless yet. Well, technically I am. I live with friends now. I pay rent through labor and favors (buy dinner. buy cigarettes). I don't have a place in my name, because I don't have the money. But everyone else likes the money that I do make. They all ask for it. I just want to live and thrive. Is there anything wrong with that?