MAX Play – the Family Safe DVD Player

It was only a matter of time until the technology that delivers movies to our homes would also equip us with a capacity to manage the content within that entertainment.

We have all had the ouch experience, that moment during a movie when you become uncomfortable, embarrassed or openly offended by subject matter or language that you feel is simply not necessary.

We put what we think is a good movie into the DVD and its great story and production qualities are diminished by moments of profanity, nudity, sexual innuendo or violence. The better the movie, the more jolting the moment seems to our sensitivities. It has nothing to do with the plot of the film. It exposes our children to content that we are trying to keep out of our home. It seems so unnecessary.

We've endured this problem long enough. Finally, there is something that we can do to make an immediate and absolute difference in the entertainment that comes into our homes.

The battle with Hollywood over profane, vulgar, sexual and violent content is over!

Technology now exists that will let us determine what we see and how we see it. It is MAX Play, a DVD Player with a very specific filtering technology built in. It comes with one thousand filters individually created for some of the greatest films released in the last 20 years.

As new films are released for personal DVD use, their filters will be available as well. In homes where the content of movie entertainment matters, this technology is being gratefully welcomed all across the country.

We Are De-sensitized?

One of my wife's favorite films is "Parent Trap" both the old and the new, 1995 version. We watched it on our MAX Play and she enjoyed it as always. I then pointed out that the film contained 10 profane references to God. She said, "I didn't notice them."

"Of course not, MAX took them out. You didn't notice them because you are desensitized to how much of this stuff we are used to enduring."

Since profanity offends her very personally, we decided to watch the film again only this time we turned the MAX Play filters off. Sure enough, it wasn't long before she said.

"OK, enough is enough. I get the point."

As many times as she had seen the movie, she was not hearing words that offended. Since that evening she has enjoyed the film with our daughter and grand daughter even more knowing that those offensive words are not being heard by her children in her home.

We hear so much of this crud that we become de-sensitized to its presence.

"Spider Man", with 15 vulgarities to complement its 10 profanities, was a fun movie that our family watched before MAX. Now, MAX Play takes the offensive content out and leaves a fun family film to watch.

So, what is the big deal about a few words?

Sit down at a family dinner and use the same language you hear in movies that earns them a PG or PG-13 rating. The presence of rude, putdown derision will prompt a very intense conversation about manners and polite conversation at my dinner table. Yet, it is the substance of popular culture.

So why do we accept this language in the movies?

We are either desensitized to the presence of so much offensive language that we fail to notice it. Or we accept the fact that we must endure it in order to watch popular entertainment. Or both.

But no longer!

The MAX Play DVD player is an answer to prayers. Without changing the DVD itself, this new Player lets me turn a filtering device on or off before the movie plays and watch movies that even grandpa would enjoy.

What Can You Filter?

The MAX Play DVD Player does not change the original DVD in any way. But rather, simultaneously engages a remarkable new technology as the DVD plays that lets you choose a level of filtering consistent with your family standards. Movie ratings were established in the first place to advise parents of the content of films that might offend their community standards. For the first time in the history of entertainment, you have individual control of the movie content seen in your home and you have the ability to set the standards that are allowed in your home on your DVD player.

The MAX Play technology can be turned on and off with a simple password that you control. Never again, will you worry about the movies that your children see whether you watch with them or not.

The filtration levels are based on four categories with twelve sub listings in each. You simply select the filters that you want on, insert the DVD, turn on the player and the technology seemlessly edits the movie while it plays.

You choose any or all of the following filter settings for each movie your family decides to watch.

Sex/Nudity

Sensual/Provocative Content
Crude Sexual Dialogue Content
Nudity
Explicit Sexual Situations

Violence/Gore

Strong Violence
Graphic Violence
Gory/Disturbing Images

Crude Language/ Humor

Ethnic Social Slurs
Cursing
Vain Reference to Deity
Graphic Vulgarity

Other Content

Explicit Drug Use

Sample Movie List

Here are 100 movie titles selected from the 1000 movies that are pre-loaded on your MAX Play Player.

Each filter is created based on twelve different categories in four content areas.

10 Things I Hate About You – PG 13
6th Day, The – PG-13
A.I. Artificial Intelligence – PG-13
Amelie – R
Amistad – R
Analyze That (Full Screen Edition) – R
Analyze This – R
Annie Gall – PG
As Good A it Gets – PG-13 (Widescreen side/Full Screen Side)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery PG-13(New Line Platinum Series – Widescreen Side/Standard)
Band of Brothers – NRBandits – PG-13 Special Edition- Widescreen Side and Standard Side)
Barbership – PG-13
Beautiful Mind, A – PG-13(The two disc award edition full screen)
Behind Enemy Lines – PG-13
Best in Show – PG-13
Big Daddy – PG-13
Big Momma’s House - PG-13(Special Edition-Widescreen)
Blade Runner – R (The director’s Cut-Widescreen Side & Standard Side)
Blue Streak - PG-13
Bourne Identity, The – PG-13
Brave Heart – R (Widescreen Collection)
Bridget Jones’s Diary – R
Caddy Shack – R
Cast Away - PG-13
Catch Me If You Can - PG-13
Changing Lanes – R Widescreen Collection)
Chinatown – R
Chocalat - PG-13
City Slickers - PG-133 (Contemporary Classics)
Conspiracy Theory – R (Widescreen Side/Standard Side)
Cougar Under Fire – R
Die Another Day – PG-13(Full Screen Special Edition)
Drumline - PG-13(Full Screen Edition)
Dumb and dumber - PG-13(Widescreen Side/Standard Side)
Enigma – R
Erin Brockovich – R
Family Man,The - PG-13(Collector’s Edition)
Few Good Men, A – R (Widescreen Side/Standard Side)
Finding Forester - PG-13
Gangs of New York – R
Gladiator – R (Signature Collection)
Goldmember – PG-13
Gone in 60 Seconds - PG-13
Gosford Park – R(Widescreen/Standard)
Heist – R
Hours, The - PG-13(Special Collector’s Edition Widescreen Collection)
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - PG-13 (Full Screen Collection)
I am Sam - PG-13(New Line Platinum Series)
Independence Day - PG-13
Insider, The – R
John Q - PG-13
Just Married - PG-13(Widescreen/Full Screen)
K-Pax - PG-13(Collector’s Edition)
Kate & Leopold - PG-13
L.A. Confidential – R
Legally Blonde - PG-13
Legend of Bagger Vance, The - PG-13
Majestic, The - PG-13
Matrix – R
Meet Joe Black - PG-13
Memento – R
Men in Black - PG-13(Widescreen Special Edition)
Minority Report - PG-13(Full frame)
Mr. Deeds - PG-13(Widescreen Special Edition)
Notting Hill - PG-13Collector’s Edition)
Others, The - PG-13(Collector’s Edition)
Out of Sight – R (Collector’s Edition)
Panic Room – R (Superbit)
Patriot, The – R (Special Edition)
Pelican Brief, The - PG-13
Perfect Storm, The - PG-13
Pianist, The – R (Full screen)
Pretty Woman – R
Return to Me – PG
Ring, The - PG-13
Rule of Engagement – R (Widescreen Collection)
Saving Private Ryan – R
Scorpion King, The - PG-13(Collector’s Edition Full Screen)
Shakespeare in Love – R
Shallow Hal - PG-13
Shanghai Knights - PG-13
Siege, The – R (Enhanced Widescreen)
Signs - PG-13(Vista Series)
Simone - PG-13
Sixth Sense - PG-13(Collector’s Edition)
Sleepless in Seattle – PG
Speed – R
Spy Game – R (Collector’s Edition Full Screen)
Sweet Home Alabama - PG-13
Terminator, The - R
There’s Something About Mary - PG-13(Special Edition)
Thirteen Days - PG-13
Thomas Crown Affair, The – R
Total Recall - R
Transporter, The - PG-13(Special Edition)
Tuxedo - PG-13
Two Weeks Notice – PG-13Unforgiven – R
Vanilla Sky – R (Widescreen Collection)
Witness – R (Widescreen Collection)
World is Not Enough, The - PG-13 (Special Edition)
Zoolander – PG-13(Widescreen Collection)

What is MAX?

In order to preserve the delicate and important relationships that define my family, I am looking at every piece of media that comes into my home with a very critical eye. Because of the sheer amount of junk that is out there I can no longer allow unlimited television, or unsupervised internet or video games. The negative messages that the media delivers to my children is wasting my children’s time, affecting their behavior and offending the standards of my home.

MAX protects my children.

The two most pressing areas of concern are the Internet and movies. We have already removed cable and limit television to selected shows.

I have two young sons, ages 12 and 10, and I am afraid to let them on the Internet unless I stand over their shoulder. Why? Because pornography is everywhere online. Pornography is not harmless. It is addictive. It is pernicious. It is pervasive and it will not be in my home. If you think pornography will not affect your home and children then you are denying the truth.

There was a time when communities picketed XXX-rated movie houses and drove the smut peddlers out of their neighborhoods, away from families and children. Today, all manner of perverse and reprehensible video is instantly accessible from the privacy of our homes. It is destroying marriages. It is affecting intimacy. It is damaging lives.

Pornography is not the only online danger to my children.

Today's technology gathering place is the cyber world of Internet chat.

Chat rooms are a meeting place for unidentifiable people who can say anything they want with anonymity. They are known simply by the name they put in the computer. There is no face, no presence, no point of reference, no reality. The removal of person to person indicators during chat eliminates inhibition and invites innuendo that would never be offered in public. And that's the good thing about chatting online.

The danger lies in sexual predators. More than a million are known today and millions more are waiting to "chat" with our children.

Why do we let that happen?

If you stepped out your back door and saw a fifty year old man, naked, lurking in the shadows of your own yard, you would do something! You would scream. You would call the police. Even chase him away with a broom. You would do anything but smile benignly when your thirteen year-old daughter goes out to have a "chat" with him. The last thing you would do is deny that he represents a threat to your daughter. Especially if you knew he was there 24 hours a day. So wake up! That same man is waiting to be an "online partner," a friend, and a confidant with your children through chat rooms.

Not always you say?

Yes, not always.

But enough times and with sufficient threat to create concern and warrant my efforts to take action and protect my children while they are online.

Are your children downloading music?

You better be careful when they walk in that candy store. In addition to the obvious ramifications of illegal music downloads, peer to peer networks are a sure source of pornographic email and content.

The Internet is both friend and foe.

Of course, the Internet is fantastic. And every day we grow to use it more and more and benefit from its quick access to information, entertainment and education. But staying stupid to its dangers is foolishness.

If I let my childen use the Internet unchecked and unfiltered I am guaranteeing that they will see pornography. It is only a matter of time before my child lands on a porn page. It is only a matter of activity before an innocent chat leads to vulgarity. It is only a numbers game before a chat room links my home with a sexual predator.

If you think not, you are wrong.

My choices are to either remove the computer or monitor my family's internet connections to the world wide web. I can take no chances when it comes to the safety of my children.

Like Hollywood cares!

Hollywood does not know my family.

The entertainment industry rarely creates entertainment that nurtures my home but they are always quick to promote content that offends, disrespects and profanes. Even movies promoted as family entertainment make me scratch my head and wonder if we don't live on different planets.

My idea of home is not a place filled with curses, profanity and vulgar roars of bodily function. Unless I want to invite Hollywood's common language into my home, I cannot watch most of the stuff that they call "funny", "outrageous", or "a laughfest" for the whole family.

Parenting today is counter cultural.

You tell your children to speak cordially and their favorite actors curse like sailors. In fact, if language gets any worse we are going to owe an apology to the sailors.

You teach your sons to play fair in sport and their favorite professional athletes act like criminals.

You teach your daughters to dress modestly and their favorite entertainers walk and talk like whores.

At some point, and in some effective way, we have to limit, control or stop the barrage of dissidence showing our children action, language and impropriety that is directly opposite to the culture of our own homes.

MAX gives me tools to preserve and protect my home.

Fortunately for me there is an answer and solution. It is MAX, a company helping parents protect their children and preserve their families. The most important relationships in my life, those associations between my family that are nurtured within the walls of my home, are being negatively impacted by the media. Those negative images, messages and behaviours are delivered to my home using technologies like computers, Internet, television, music and DVDs.

MAX gives me technology that I am using to control content and monitor activity.

MAX helps me make my house my home.

The First Dirty Word

I recently met the father of a good friend and during our discussion of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; the topic eventually turned to movies. He, as I, love entertainment.

I think it is a common occurrence to talk about movies and entertainment whenever you meet with friends. For better or for worse, media is our common experience and sharing reactions about this show or that guides most casual conversation.

I love to think what would happen if you said to a gathering of friends, "I was reading in the conversations of Plato recently and came across an interesting concept. . . "

You'd be met with blank stares.

But if you said, "Hey, what were they thinking when they chose Felicia as the American Idol?"

You would immediately be accepted as one of the herd.

Popular entertainment does not train us or our children to be deep thinkers. As a result our conversations center around what we viewed last rather than what we thought or wrote or discovered through our personal contemplations. Watching a movie or television is easier than reading or writing.

Of course, while talking about movies my new friend and I eventually got around to what we'd seen recently and I was surprised to recount how rarely I actually go to a movie at a theatre. Studies show that if you are over 40 years of age you go to about three movies a year. If you are 18 to 25 you go to more than 50!

We spoke of our difficulty in finding a good movie, one that doesn't center on sex or gratuitous violence. I mentioned my appreciation for Frank Capra, the Hollywood director of It's a Wonderful Life, who said that movies should remind us that we "are born divine, free, strong, a child of God and that goodness is riches and wisdom is glory." I like that.

Yet, finding a film that reaffirms my life or speaks to my soul at the local cineplex is nearly impossible. While examples where violence is used to solve problems, casual sex is an audition for the prom and the name of God is reduced to vulgar adjectives are plentiful.

Even movies that are "family oriented" as the Hollywood promoters indicate often contain what I call "except fors". "Except for" that one scene it would have been a good movie. I wonder. If those offensive elements were gone from a movie would the movie itself be any less entertaining?

Have you ever gone to a movie and afterword said to yourself. "You know if that gal would have cussed just a few more times. WOW, that would have been a great movie?"

As we lamented the scarcity of family entertainment he told me an interesting story.

In 1939, when Gone With the Wind was in the theater, (the only place your could see a movie in 1939), he was a teen-age usher.

Of course, everyone knows that Clark Gable was the first actor to exercise every director's free speech right to offend the sensitivities of the audience when he said to Scarlett O'Hara, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a _amn!"

I'd heard the story before but his next comment was very revealing in just how far we have come as a culture.

In that theater, in 1939, when Gable said the line, the entire audience visibly gasped. He stood in the back of the theater and watched.

Why? Because they had never heard that word through the powerful medium of film. It was a word for private conversation. Vulgarity and profanity was unwelcome in formal society. Ugly speech offended the community standard, was condemned as unacceptable and relegated to backrooms and barnyards.

My next thought was, "What would Gable say to her today?"

What's Going On?

My son sent me this note in an email this morning.

I found it interesting because I see evidence all around me that those who are working to live their lives according to higher principles, call them the "old fashioned principles of polite society", are finding peace in this world, answers to problems and hope for the future. It is true in my family.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?" In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it...no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!

The Internet can bring you much good.

It is also capable of bringing a degree of danger and damage that parents must not only understand but also take steps to protect against.

Francis Bacon said that "Heaven knows how to price it's goods." Heavenly goods are honor, integrity, goodness, respect, kindness, order to name a few. Personal experience and individual evidence of the value of these "goods" comes through trying to use them until you understand them. You will never know goodness if you never engage in it. You will never understand honor if you have none. You will never know virtue if your mind is full of vice. You must exercise each "heavenly good" until its unmistakeable features become a part of your character. In my experience the elements of our condition that bring understanding and order to my family are found in heavenly things.

Young Teens and Violent Movies -- Not in My House

It becomes more and more apparent to me that the only person I can trust to protect the content of movies that are seen in my home is me.

A recent study from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth College finds a surprising number of young teenagers watching extremely violent movies.

James Sargent, the lead author of the study and Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School said, "through movies, adolescents are being esposed to brutal and often sexualized violence."

The survey revealed that the most popular movies from a list of 50 of the most violent films released from 1988 to 1999 were randomly selected from the top 600 box office films. These movies, all R-rated, and not meant to be seen by children contained scenes depicting such family friendly activities as sadistic rape, sodomy, brutal or ritualistic murders and cannibalism. On average, these movies were seen by 28 percent of the sample. In other words, walk into an American public school class of 5th graders and nearly one in three of them has watched a brutal rape and accepts murder as an entertaining plot device. Ask them why they liked these films, if they admit to seeing them and their answer will be, "They're cool."

The top movies for fifth graders, who are usually about 10 years old, were "I Know What you Did Last Summer" and "Scream," with both movies seen by more than 40 percent of the fifth graders surveyed. R-rated films are supposed to be restricted for people under the age of 17.

Two other R movies, "The General's Daughter" and "Natural Born Killers," were also seen by a surprising number of children.

"The General's Daughter," which contained graphic and violent rape scenes, was seen by 27 percent of the sample of more than 5000 children.

"Natural Born Killers," portraying young lovers on a killing spree mixed with sex, was seen by 20 percent of the study group.

It was especially interesting to me that the authors of the survey said their "results suggest that better oversight of movie industry marketing practices might be warranted."

Oh, really?

If you're own children watch violent movies you will see changes in their behavior. If your children do not watch violent movies, they still must interact with other children who do and because of repeated exposure to violence by those children your children are impacted as well.

Another note:

Dr. Sargent is the author of another interesting study that indicates adolescents whose favorite movie stars smoke on-screen are more likely to be smokers themselves. If you think that children who see people smoke in movies are not affected as to whether they smoke later in life, then you are wrong.

It's time to wake up and smell the smoke and put out the fires.

Fourth Grade Theater -- Afterall

I'm helping with my son's school play. Nothing lavish; cute music, the costumes turned out well and for a few moments in the lives of these 4th grade performers one might even think that they were actually on "Treasure Island"! Not true, but a good effort by about 50 kids and two very dedicated teachers.

I think they called me in because I'm not worn out and wearied down by the constant effort required to maintain the attention of young people. These ten and eleven year-olds launched everything I said to a thousand different places in their intellect. At times I thought I'd stumbled into a camp of very small, extremely brain damaged comedians. Most times my suggestions were scattered like "water skippers", those spider-looking bugs that walk on water, swarm like wasps and flee from slight disturbances.

Underneath the energy and chaotic clamor of our rehearsal was a goodness that's found in children. And as we completed the first performance, they were excited by their successes and adamant in their excuses. Which is what I found most interesting of all.

It is a rare child who listens.

It's the common child who shouts.

While responding to simple on and off-stage instructions; blame was readily placed for every innocent mistake of others and responsibility quickly denied for naive blunders and intended disruptions by themselves.

It seemed as if every child, and certainly the more vocal ones, declared everyone else at fault while claiming the group's collective success as their own.

They are young and they will grow. They are children and they're self focused. But the very complicated process of fifty beings producing sixty minutes of performance saw little give and take and lots of grab and twist and turn and forget.

Yet as we finished our performances, all two of them, wonderful results peaked through in spite of my challenge and their activities.

The discipline of doing something the correct way, though forced by sheer personality on my part, produced competence. A boy who wanted no part of the experience declared his enthusiasm for his effort managing scenery.

Clamor that was fueled by not knowing what to do turned into calm as the structure of rehearsal and repeated effort produced laughter and applause. The girl most likely to disrupt our runthroughs became the character most delighting the spectators.

Emotional age notwithstanding, the influence of principle and structure, small and insignificant as it was for me in comparison to the personality of growing young people made my foray into fourth grade theater a positive happening.

The Dangers of File Sharing on the Internet

Pornography File Sharing 5/17/2004
By Kathryn Hooks

P2P (Peer to Peer) is a widely popular new teen computer activity. P2P means that the computers talk directly with each other. There is no legal or business entity between your computer and the computer it is linking to.

It's happening right under parents' noses, but few know that their teens and young children are targeted in a new battle tactic of the pornography industry. Peer-to-peer file sharing programs represent a widely popular new trend among today's youth.


In the 1990s Napster was forced to shut down to protect copyrighted music, and recently the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced its plans to now sue users trading music files. However, the new "peer-to-peer" or P2P networks like Kazaa, Morpheus, and Grokster pose a new and far greater problem than the illegal trade of music. These P2P networks allow children to easily download videos and images of free pornography and illegal child pornography and create a new arena for pedophiles.


The programs seem innocent enough to kids downloading music, but the apparent innocence of the programs draw porn distributors to this new channel. According to the RIAA, 41 percent of people downloading files through P2P networks are between the ages of 12 and 18, and Kazaa, the most popular P2P file-sharing program, typically has 4 million simultaneous users.


A study conducted in March of 2003 by the Committee on Government Reform and the General Accounting Office revealed: pornography is widely available and accessible on P2P networks; children using P2P networks can easily be exposed to pornography inadvertently; and the filters available to parents to protect their children have severe limitations.


The GAO used 12 keywords associated with porn to search Kazaa, and 76 percent of the returned titles and file names were pornographic with 42 percent representing child pornography. The term "porn" was entered yielding 25,000 pornographic titled files proving the P2P pornographic accessibility. Children can stumble across pornographic images much easier than imagined. The GAO used the popular child search terms –– "Britney," a pop singer, "Olsen twins," teenage actresses, and "Pokemon," a popular cartoon character. Over half the results contained pornographic images.


According to a study done by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in 2001, 70 percent of online youth between the ages of 15 - 17 say they have stumbled across porn online, and of those exposed to such content, 49 percent were upset by the experience. The study also found that young people agree: "[Stumbling upon pornography] is upsetting to many young people - especially young girls - and most think it is a serious problem."


Parental-control software does not work on the P2P file-sharing programs. None of the parental-control programs tested by the GAO, including the common NetNanny, blocked all pornographic images. Parental control settings within the P2P networks easily allow children to disable them. Penny Nance, President of Kids First Coalition, said she sees the lack of filter ability for parents as a major concern and believes the FTC should force P2P networks to install effective parental controls.


Since tracking child pornography reports on P2P networks in 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found a fourfold increase of reports occurred within a year. The NCMEC also noted that pedophiles show children images of other kids performing sexual acts to convince them of its acceptability.


These P2P networks provide an open field for pedophiles to exchange child porn images and lure in young children. According to Nance, pedophiles enter words such as "Britney" and "Pokeman" to find children downloading these terms. Then through P2P instant messenger they entice kids by acting like another child to provide them with information such as their name, age and where they go after school.


"Pedophiles are able to stalk children through P2P networks. [P2P networks] are the new virtual playground for pedophilia," Nance said.


The threat of pedophilia is a legitimate cause for concern. This May the American Psychiatric Association debated whether or not pedophilia - having sex with a child - constituted a mental disorder. Some experts viewed the debate as an early step in a campaign to normalize child molestation.


The greatest challenges in protecting children from Internet pornography require the government's active enforcement of the law and parental awareness of the danger on-line.


Jan LaRue, legal expert for Concerned Women for America, stated, "The failure of the Department of Justice to vigorously and consistently enforce the federal obscenity laws is the major problem. The ignorance of parents is [another] big factor. Too many allow kids unrestricted Internet access. Many parents fail to educate themselves and their kids about why porn is harmful."


If parents fail to recognize the tactics and consequences of pornography on all children, the porn addicts and pedophiles of the cultural sex war will devour another generation - child by child.


Kathryn Hooks, a recent graduate of Mississippi State University, wrote this as an intern at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, research arm of Concerned Women for America. She was Miss MSU, president of the Panhellenic Council, voted one of 12 “Big Dawgs” (top student leaders) and graduated with highest honors.

Music Downloads are Doorway to Pornography

Feds Arrest 65 for Sending Porn Via Internet File-Sharing Technology 5/17/2004
By Rebecca Jones

Actions confirm ‘peer to peer’ networks open children to risk from pedophiles.

Federal officials announced on Friday that a nationwide investigation into peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology as a means for exchanging child pornography has resulted in 1,000 cases and 65 arrests. Those arrested face charges of distribution of child pornography and sexual abuse of children.


These actions affirm the dangers of peer-to-peer technology, the subject of a congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on May 6. Members of Congress convened “Online Pornography: Closing the Doors on Pervasive Smut” to hear from experts and lawmakers about the threat P2P technology poses to unsuspecting children and young adults.


Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Florida 6th) said that while he recognized that P2P technology is “legitimate and a neutral technology with tremendous potential to do good,” it has also become a popular medium for pedophiles to use to prey on new victims.


“As with the Internet itself, it didn’t take sexual predators long to turn a good technology into an instrument of evil,” said Robert Knight, director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, commenting on the testimony. “Congress has a responsibility to the nation’s children to take aim at those who would destroy innocence and sexually abuse kids.”


P2P software enables users to share files and to access each other’s hard drives on Internet sites. This new technology is popular among children and youth because they can download free music or images. For example, if a teenage girl wants one of Britney Spears’ newest songs, she can search a peer-to-peer site to see if another user has the song on her hard drive. Then she can copy it without ever directly contacting the user. Popular peer-to-peer sites among children and youth include KaZaA, Grokster, Morpheus and Gnutella.


However, this new technology also invites unwanted participants, such as pedophiles. If the teenage girl wanting Britney’s newest song misspells the pop star’s name in her search on a peer-to-peer site, she may have pornographic images sent to her computer instead. Pedophiles commonly use misspelled file names to send pornographic images to underage victims as a seduction tactic.


Since peer-to-peer networks allow direct access to users’ hard drives, the transferred files completely bypass filters, leaving children and youth unprotected.


Penny Nance, president of Kids First Coalition, who is also a board member of Concerned Women for America and a mother of two, testified at the hearing. She cited a recent study(report number: GAO-03-351) from the General Accounting Office (GAO) that said “kids searching with innocent keywords … would find either graphic adult pornography or child pornography 56 percent of the time.” (This report can be accessed on www.gao.gov, report number GAO-03-351.) Nance also pointed out that the GAO reported that “4 million people are on KaZaa alone at any one time and 40 percent of those are kids.”



The hearing included testimony about proposed solutions.


Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania) is sponsoring the “Protecting Kids from Peer to Peer Pornography Act” (H.R. 2885), which Concerned Women for America supports. The bill would require P2P networks to inform users of the risks and to obtain parental consent before a minor installs the software.


“The proposed rules are the minimum we should be doing to ensure that children aren’t picked off while searching for ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Toy Story,’” CWA’s Knight said.


Additionally, P2P United, another trade organization, has promised to cooperate with the FBI to develop a “most wanted” list of suspected child pornography offenders on their Web sites or installation pages.


At the close of the hearing, Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-New Jersey, and a parent of four) expressed outrage over the danger posed by P2P software. He warned the trade associations that if they didn’t clean up their own sites, then federal regulation was coming.


Other panelists included representatives from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FBI, U.S. General Accounting Office, and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.