"Hey Homer, your the number 1 non-porno site, which makes you ten trillionth overall"-Lenny from The Simpsons
I think this quote really speaks to the prevalence of porn on the Internet. Porn will always be the first thing that people tend to look at when they are home alone, and want something naughty to watch. I think that had a lot to do with the advent of high speed Internet, as much as it had to do with businesses being able to do more work.
Should we rid the Internet of porn? There would be a lot of good reasons to get rid of porn on the Internet, and if we governed our citizens on moral standards, the porn industry would have been shot down many years ago. However, we do not govern the content in this country by strictly moral standards, or at least not on a federal level. While certain books, or content may be banned from time to time, it usually has to be so graphic as to pose an imminent danger to people.
The porn industry generates a lot of money for the American economy, and not to mention the global economy. They say that when recession hits, that women usually turn to stripping to make money. Its sort of ironic that the one thing that so many people say is immoral may actually help give millions of Americans jobs, and keep families in homes, and from going hungry. They say that sex sells, and since it is such a part of our culture, would we let it go? I doubt that people would just give up the ability to use sex as a means of advertising.
The porn industry would have the first amendment in the back of their pocket as well. We don't just outright ban speech that a few religious folks may find to be offensive. It's not like porn is just all of a sudden popping up on our computers, and our kids just can't stop watching. You can block porn from your computer, and if you don't like it, or don't want your kids looking at it, then you need to be vigilant about that. We can't use the government to do our jobs as thinking adults for us.
Sex is a natural thing that we all do, or will eventually do. Who am I to tell you that you can't watch other people do it? As long as the people involved realize that they are being filmed, there is nothing to stop them from filming it. There is also nothing that says they cannot profit on it either. The market is free to do what it pleases, meaning that people can watch porn if they want, and it isn't illegal as long as you are an adult. Without the porn industry, I think that the American economy could suffer even more, Nevada was going to add taxes to brothels, and other "sin taxes". We would lose too much money if we got rid of porn, even if it was just on-line.
The Internet is the last place where everybody can say or do what they please for the most part. While there are many objectionable pieces of material on the web, where else can people be free to do what they want? If you don't want to hear the message, just change the channel so to speak. People have the right to say what they feel, and if we rid the Internet of porn, what else are we going to rid it of? I just don't like the slippery slope that we could start going down once we start legislating what people can watch.
If we say that you can't view porn on the Internet, what are we going to say you can't watch next? Are we going to say that you can't watch a TV show that has nudity in it? What is the difference between porn and art? Are we not going to be able to see naked bodies anymore without a government permit? I don't like where you would be going with the precedent that you would set by not allowing people to watch porn. The government already watches us too much as it is, should they have even more power to tell us what we can do on-line?
I don't care if people want to watch porn on the Internet. While it may be a taboo, plenty of people do it, and who am I to say that it is right or wrong. People can still be free in this country, and this includes free speech as well. As long as nobody is being forced to watch, I don't see that people could even get rid of it anyway. The first amendment says that no speech will be limited, and that everyone has the right to say what they want, as long as they aren't infringing on the rights of others to live safely.