V-Chip For The Internet?
A lot of Americans seem to be thinking along those lines, according to a new Zogby poll commissioned by DC tech PR firm 463 Communications.
According to the report in Digital ArtsOnline:
More than half of US residents want the government to regulate Internet video in some way, according to a poll released Wednesday.Why should Galvin be shocked that people view Internet video as similar to the stuff you see on TV, when much of what's on TV already ends up on the web. (Even my favorite commercial of all time.) Many people are probably only exposed to online video when it's played on a TV show anyway, so it's tough to blame them for blurring the lines.Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed said Internet video should be regulated just like television content, and another 24 percent said the US government should institute an online rating system similar to the one used by the movie industry, according to the poll …
Only 36 percent of respondents agreed that government regulation of Internet video would raise constitutional issues. "I was really shocked that people look at the Internet the same way they look at TV," said Tom Galvin, a partner at 463.
But whether or not you think that online video should be rated or regulated, there's always that tricky little question: How, exactly, would you do that?
Obviously, it could never be voluntary or up to each individual user. Mischief could happen and what's questionable content to one person induces yawns from another. You would either need a highly-sophisticated data mining technology that could scan video and identify indecent visual cues ... or actual people doing the deciding for the government.
With movies, we have the ratings board who decides – sometimes capriciously – whether something is an "R" or a "PG-13." With television, we've got the FCC monitoring content and levying fines when needed. But with the Internet, where there's (literally) millions of content producers, how could you get you head around rating all the material posted everyday? The government has its hands full already tracking terrorists and pedophiles.
And it's not as if the Internet companies aren't trying to do a little bit of policing themselves. Over at YouTube, if the online community finds a video that seems a bit questionable, it is flagged for mature content and YouTube posts a warning saying "This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community.To view this video or group, please verify you are 18 or older by logging in or signing up."
With the Internet – as with campaign finance and athletes using performance-enhancers – the outlaws will always be one step ahead of the reformers/regulators. So it's tough to see how there could be a foolproof way to make sure no youngster ever happens upon profanity or nudity online. But with more and more consumers waching online video, the instinct towards regulation is understandable.
But for now, I'd settle for someone regulating Chris Crocker or all the "Don't Tase Me Bro" remix videos.