So Pornography is banned. Now what?

[MollyWuzHere]

It's the not too distant future and the long battle is over. The opponents of pornography (the religious right, certain feminists, parents groups) have won. Your leaders, with the endorsement of telecom companies and (most of) the film and television industry, have now made a prohibition of all forms of graphic sexual content the law of the land. Anyone in possession of this material will be fined heavily and possibly jailed for months or (if a repeat offender) years. Anyone found to be producing it will suffer much stiffer penalties.

All existing material will be confiscated and destroyed, except for a small amount for archival purposes (the same way we archive evidence in court cases). All studios or other establishments set up for the express purpose of producing said material will have a short window to convert to legal purposes or be forced to shut down. Similarly, all businesses that rely on selling this material for profit will either have to convert over to another source of revenue or be forced to shut down.

The Internet, it turns out, is not for pr0n. Government mandated internet filters will be put in place by ISP's to monitor and track IP addresses found to be linked to distribution of this "digital contraband". Any person or persons caught hosting this material will be heavily penalized, including possible jail time.

Lastly, your government will sponsor ads and outreach programs designed to prevent impressionable/vulnerable young people from becoming involved in the underground pornography trade.

The ban does not affect the following:

• Images of scantily clad persons not depicted in poses imitative of sexual intercourse.
• Images of athletes in form fitting garments.
• Images of nudity (and, in special cases, sexuality) deemed to be of an expressly artistic nature.
• Images of nudity (and, in special cases, sexuality) intended for educational, research or medical purposes.
• Images of nudity exchanged between spouses or other romantically involved individuals. (must be personal images, not contraband and does not include images of actual explicit sex acts, which are banned)
• Images of nudity found in documentary photography or films (not including documentaries of illegal sex acts).
• Images of individuals involved in non-explicit sex acts.
• Literature depicting sexually explicit situations. (all such literature is now subject to new, more restrictive rating systems)
• Songs featuring sexually explicit lyrics (see above). (does not include sounds of actual or simulated sex acts, which are illegal under the ban)
• Literature, promotional material or paraphernalia used by groups to promote private gatherings that may be of a sexual nature. (there are, however, restrictions on where such promotions can be placed)

So, what happens now? Assuming all of this comes to pass in your country, what do you believe will follow it?

leave

seriously

start distrubiting the nastiest porn I can find from off-shore where the law can't touch me.

 

[scotpens]

Sexuality should be dirty and cheap. It's more fun and still leaves you money for cigarettes and scotch.

Some of America's greatest minds have expressed similar sentiments.

- Do you think sex is dirty?
- It is if you do it right.
-- Woody Allen

I've been taught ever since I was a kid that sex is filthy and forbidden, and that's the way I think it should be. The filthier and more forbidden it is, the more exciting it is.
-- Mel Brooks

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ See? That type of philosophy is reactionary to a repressive society.

...And that's why I vote for RJDiogenes to run the board. Or the entire Internets.

I accept the nomination to be the Boss of the Internets.

AND TOMORROW THE WORLD!

 

[Teelie]

I can hear what Rii is saying. It's not that sex, sex drive, sexual attraction, etc. are bad, terrible things that should be repressed (yeah, like that's ever worked). It's just being open to the possibility that there's more to sex than the cheap pleasures derived from porn.

To carry on the food analogy, porn is like the cheap fast-food of sex, both of which us Westerners love to gorge on. I think we've forgotten, culturally, that sex can also be fine dining.

What about the good home-cooked meal?

 

[Bloodwhiner]

What about the good home-cooked meal?

Thats a hot date who .. well you get the idea

 

[Hunter X]

I can hear what Rii is saying. It's not that sex, sex drive, sexual attraction, etc. are bad, terrible things that should be repressed (yeah, like that's ever worked). It's just being open to the possibility that there's more to sex than the cheap pleasures derived from porn.

To carry on the food analogy, porn is like the cheap fast-food of sex, both of which us Westerners love to gorge on. I think we've forgotten, culturally, that sex can also be fine dining.

What about the good home-cooked meal?

I'm never going to hear the phrase "just like Mom's cooking" the same way again.

 

[USS Triumphant]

My promise - and I think that this should be, in all seriousness, the sworn oath of anyone who cares about freedom - is that, if porn is ever banned from the Internet, I will exclusively, regularly, and rigorously spank it while looking at pictures - clothed or not - of the mother(s) of whomever is responsible for the ban.

I would think that concern about that possibility would be enough to give legislators at least a moment's pause.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

George Carlin's impression of an anti-smut crusader:

"Our thrust is to prick holes in the stiff front erected by the smut dealers. We must keep mounting an offensive so we can penetrate any crack in his defenses - to lay to rest his dominant position. We want him hung, and we want fast action. Let's ram through a stiff bill or a law, so it'll hard for him to get it up. We've got to come together so we can whip this thing into submission. It'll be hard on us, but we can't lick it by being soft!"

 

[23skidoo]

It'll go underground. Porn speakeasies will open up, and the Mob will take over running the industry.

Which is basically the way things were back in the 60s and earlier. And if governments legalize drugs - which many are heading towards - and by drugs I'm at minimum talking about marijuana and the like, organized crime will be looking for something else to latch on to.

And all the stuff the far right (I won't say religious right because it's not just religious people pushing this) fear - real and imaginary - is happening with porn today will happen 100-fold, and it won't take long before restrictions are relaxed, just as they were on prohibition in the 1920s.

Alex

 

[The Borg Queen]

So, what happens now? Assuming all of this comes to pass in your country, what do you believe will follow it?

I'm guessing "revolution".

 

[QCzar]

My promise - and I think that this should be, in all seriousness, the sworn oath of anyone who cares about freedom - is that, if porn is ever banned from the Internet, I will exclusively, regularly, and rigorously spank it while looking at pictures - clothed or not - of the mother(s) of whomever is responsible for the ban.

I would think that concern about that possibility would be enough to give legislators at least a moment's pause.

Some legislators. I'm betting that some of them are undercover freaks with a certain "complex". That threat wouldn't phase them one bit.