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Britain Considering Film-Style Content Ratings for Websites

Posted 12/29/08 at 06:08:35 PM by Andy Salisbury

The ratings that you find on television shows and movies could soon be applied to websites. These ratings would potentially be added in a bid to help police on the Internet and protect our young ones from potentially offensive material.

"The more we seek international solutions to this stuff -- the UK and the U.S. working together -- the more that an international norm will set an industry norm," said England’s Culture Secretary. However, it has also been mentioned that these film-style ratings would only be one possibility.

Internet service providers could also become a part of the scheme, as they may be forced to offer their services in helping to only show sites that would be suitable for children. Though, this looks like it could teeter on the edge of censorship, which would violate Americans’ freedom of speech.

Watch out boys, be sure and tread lightly with this one.

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Good Ideal......Bad Idea
Submitted by Caskey.100 on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 1:10am

It seems like a dandy of something to do on paper, but can't possibly be workable in real world internet and computing. For example what rating would you give websites like Hulu, Youtube, Invision, etc. They all have streaming media that can be considered from rated G all the way to rated Adult. Do you change it for each website page based on what content that single page holds...no. It would cost wayy too much as it would increase te bandwidth needed for that site greatly with all the extra lines of code to display the message, etc. It would be a logistical mess and US the tax payers would have to foot that bill also.

Bad idea, stick to movies, music and games..........

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You could have fun with this
Submitted by maniacm0nk3y on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 9:49pm

This does blow alot of **** and the net is fine as long as parents are not stupid and people have the proper "protection", but there would be great applications for this.

MPAA and RIAA, as well as many others could have ratings like "R-For ridicolous/retarded".

The possibilities are endless.

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I use a Internet protection
Submitted by s3th on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 7:51pm

I use a Internet protection service that shows keystrokes, and monitors internet activity from certain times and blocks websites and the only way to access is a master password. I just make it so theirs no possible way to bypass it unless your a boy genious, I make all the stuff hidden on my computer so no changes can be altered.

Solves that, no Ratings for websites are needed, they dont need to do anything because I got it under control without them.

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This will work in reverse
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 6:58pm

This will work in reverse because when I was a kid I knew that if it were rated X or R it was more than like a great movie. If it were PG then it had a chance at being good and if it were G then don't even bother. Same thing here. Kids and teens are going to get home from school and do a google search for PG and R and X and those are the sites they will only visit.

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obama seems to be pro-net
Submitted by guoruiwu1994 on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 6:07pm

obama seems to be pro-net neutrality, so he probably will veto this.

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Sorry, but this idea is
Submitted by I Jedi on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 5:32pm

Sorry, but this idea is quite, quite ridicilous. The fact of the matter being is that there are already programs made out there to help parents stop their kids from viewing naughty or not so nice websites out there. To even ponder the idea of putting a rating on my website for every little kiddie who comes by my website is not only ridicilous, but isn't going to be happening unless made to do so.

"The ratings that you find on television shows and movies could soon be applied
to websites. These ratings would potentially be added in a bid to help
police on the Internet and protect our young ones from potentially
offensive material."

Believe me when I say that if a kid wants to find something on the Internet, they will.

I get so angered by ISP's and government when they try to stick their collective noses where it doesn't belong.

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