iceland's plan to ban internet porn sparks outrage

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_ICELAND_LAND_WITHOUT_PORN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-02-25-03-05-46

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- In the age of instant information, globe-spanning viral videos and the World Wide Web, can a thoroughly wired country become a porn-free zone? Authorities in Iceland want to find out.

The government of the tiny North Atlantic nation is drafting plans to ban pornography, in print and online, in an attempt to protect children from a tide of violent sexual imagery.

The proposal by Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson has caused an uproar. Opponents say the move will censor the Web, encourage authoritarian regimes and undermine Iceland's reputation as a Scandinavian bastion of free speech.

Advocates say it is a sensible measure that will shelter children from serious harm.

[Demeter]

1. Which are Icelanders? The advocates, or the protesters?

Looks like another plebiscite in the offing....

[Siwsan]

2. Just a guess as to the motive, based on my experience in Iceland

When I lived there, Iceland was a relatively serious crime free country. People would leave their babies outside the store, in prams, when they ran in to do a quick shop, and not give it a second thought. My friend's brother was arrested for, as I recall, some driving offense, and had to wait until one of the few jail cells was free, before he could do his time. I think there was one murder in the year before I got there (drunken dispute over a card game) and none while I was there. So, my guess is they are seeing some sort of spike in crime, and this is an over-reaching attempt to stem it.

[brooklynite]

3. So, ban James Bond movies...

...also Viking epics.

[Siwsan]

5. Yea, I'm definitely not saying it makes sense

Icelanders are a very interesting people. I liked them immensely. But they were very adamant about keeping outside influences from infiltrating their culture. So, the Viking stuff would be ok. Ha ha.

And they do enforce rules in what we would see as an excessive nature, to control crime. I can remember that if you even opened the door of your car, parked outside of one of the base clubs, and sat on the drivers seat to get something from the car, the Icelandic police could pull you out and do a sobriety test. If you failed, even though you had not turned the key in the ignition, they would arrest you for drunk driving. One of the worst things you could do is get caught taking liquor off base.

Since the air base was actually an agreed area, you had no choice but to get hauled off to where ever they held the people from the base. Trust me, there was WAY more crime on base than off so I'm guessing they had a separate holding area. Fortunately, I can't speak from experience, on that particular issue.

[bemildred]

4. I would ban commercial porn.

Remove at least the money incentive. Forbidding possession or private non-commercial production not otherwise a crime will cause more trouble than it's worth and violates free speech.

[Yavin4]

6. Freedom of Information means that you have to allow ALL content

It's very scary for the govt to decide what you can or cannot view online.