The end of Restrained Elegance?

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This topic contains 3 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by  AbeVandermark 10 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #10252

    Will the great Cameron firewall mean the end of Restrained Elegance and other similar sites. I hope not, but sadly I think it’s likely. Not to mention even more of our diminishing freedoms as other topics are added to the blocked list.

    #16971

    Hi,

    I sincerely hope not.

    A) The site is run under licence from me in the USA, for many reasons, some historical, some practical. But as a side effect of that, at least the site itself is in a country which has protected freedom of speech. Which means that

    B) Those in places with totalitarian censorship regimes, which looks like it might shortly include Britain, should be able to get around firewalls by using proxy servers and similar.

    C) If necessary, Ariel and I have already discussed that we may emigrate rather than see our pride and joy dismantled. At least as EU citizens we (and you) have the right so to do… at the moment.

    But actually I don’t think it will come to that. Cameron’s plan is clearly every bit as unworkable as earlier attempts to do the same- ask the citizens of Scunthorpe what chaos algorithmic blocking brings… or the NHS doctors whose access to breast cancer studies were blocked by the NHS “no porn at work” filters. Needless to say the filters got turned off again.

    The only way to actually ban porn is to shut down the internet, and even China can’t manage it.

    Hywel

    #16972

    I hope you’re right but from Cameron’s tone he seems determined to rid the ‘net of “filth”. Tobacco, of course is another matter. 🙄

    #16973

    David Cameron is a politician seeking re-election so it is hardly fair to expect logic from him. It may be too soon to stress ourselves about him delivering on any “promises” that would require legislation.

    On the other hand, I have heard people predict a wave of puritanism in the UK for more decades than I wish to admit to. Who knows, they’ll probably be right sometime.

    Whatever trouble does come, I hope it will not be so severe that any of us need emigrate or resort to proxy servers or similar. One important reason for this is that such devices may preserve the site but are likely to scare off a large proportion of the more timid membership (probably including me).

    I hope it is a more realistic scenario to imagine that the changes are relatively small, actually affecting only material way beyond anything RE would touch. However, the uncertainty and publicity/hysteria will still be a worry for many members and potential members. In that scenario, the problems will be marketing ones more than legal ones: less, “how do we defend ourselves if investigated?” than “how do we reassure members and potential members that we and they are unlikely to be investigated at all?”.

    At that stage, I believe RE’s emphasis on the artistic quality of its content places it in a relatively good position. I can easily imagine ways it could build on this to make itself look even more different from other sites so that even the most zealous investigator or muck-raking journalist would realise there are easier targets elsewhere. In the worst realistic case, it may need to tone down a few stories but very little if any actual content need be moved off the site.

    My personal experience of BDSM sites is not large. I have never seen anything remotely like the sort of thing in stories the press are touting. I have never seen anything on the internet that horrifies me more than I have seen on broadcast television. Yet even in my experience RE is far from the worst I have been aware of. I understand everyone’s worries but, without complacency, I hope the worst are unfounded.

    Andrew

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