LDS Media Talk

I just found some great podcasts about Internet Safety made by two BYU professors. They are 30-minute audio programs. There are currently three, with more on the way.

The first one is a general overview of technology and the Internet. It is a primer in plain English of what the Internet is and how it works. It talks about the wonders of modern technology, but just like any tool, it needs to be used wisely.

Numbers 2 & 3, are titled “What are your kids finding on the Internet?” They educate parents on ways kids try to hide their Internet activity from them. They also include stats about pornography and strategies of how Webmasters are tricking people into seeing pornography, particularly targeting young people.

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Attendees at BYU Education Week were told that technology can and should be used for good. Ron Schwendiman, of the Church Internet Coordination Group, reviewed the wonders of the information age and cautioned that it must be harnessed for good. Some key points:

• With all the information that is available, which information is true and right?
• What information is of the most value?
• How do we prioritize our time in conjunction with technology?
• How do we take advantage of all these great discoveries?

Read more in the Deseret Morning News.

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BYU professor Phil Windley points out that the United Methodist Church now has an online social network. Read Phil’s comments about the site.

What are your feelings about the value of such a site for LDS people?

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The Lighted Candle Society will hold its Guardian of the Light Awards Dinner on May 8, 2007. The Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, Archbishop of San Francisco, will give the keynote address at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Special guests include Mr. Michael Reagan and Ms. Pamela J. Atkinson. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the fight against pornography.

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In a previous post, I noted that a subcommittee of the Utah State Legislature unanimously passed a Resolution (H.C.R. 3) Urging Congress to Stop Interent Pornography to Children and Employees. You may be interested to note that this resolution passed the House of Representatives and the Senate with a 100% vote on both floors. (When was the last time anything passed both the House and the Senate with a 100% favorable vote?) On Friday, February 23, Governor Huntsman signed the resolution. There will be a future ceremonial signing and then an official state delegation will deliver the resolution to members of the federal government.

“We are excited about this first step. It shows that people are ready to take action,” said Ralph Yarro, Chairman of The CP80 Foundation. 

This sends a strong message to Washington that the people of the State of Utah want legislation to protect children and employees from Internet pornography. As I mentioned in comments to my previous post, this doesn’t accomplish anything in itself, but it lays a groundwork for bills ready to enter on Capitol Hill.

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Did you catch the USA Today article today about Safer Cyber-Playrooms?

Disney and Nickelodeon have created safe social network sites for kids 14 and under. Disney Extreme Digital and Nicktropolis are free, video-rich interactive Web sites with secure, kid-safe chat functions.

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Meridian Magazine just published a story on pornography entitled “Pornography: If it Quacks Like a Duck” about the dangers of pornography. Hopefully, we’ll recognize the dangers of pornography individually and as a society before it’s too late.

In addition to this article, you may want to visit combatingpornography.lds.org for further information and help.

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Friday morning, a subcommittee of the Utah State Legislature unanimously passed a Resolution (H.C.R. 3) Urging Congress to Stop Interent Pornography to Children and Employees. This resolution would put the US Government on notice that the people of the State of Utah want something done about Internet pornography.

The resolution will go to the floor for a vote some time in the next two weeks. If you want to help stop Internet pornography, please call your state representatives and let them know you want them to approve H.C.R. 3: Resolution Urging Congress to Stop Interent Pornography to Children and Employees.

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Yesterday, I blogged about the revived proposal to create a .xxx domain for pornography. This article lists several LDS resources that may be of interest to you:

• LDS Church (Mormon Church) has published pamphlets and posted online helps on combating pornography. More information coming in the future.
• Utah Coalition Against Pornography is a multi-faith community effort. Their Web site has information about education, statistics, and links to helpful sites. They also provide an annual conference and helpful materials.
• Citizens Against Pornography is an organization of LDS people who focus on [1] raising awareness about the harms of pornography, [2] protecting standards of decency in our communities and [3] fortifying homes and families against the destructive and pervasive influence of pornography. They promote legislation to require Web site ratings, recommend filtering technologies to assist parents, and have developing a DVD and printed material to assist parents and others. Their Web site provides help for individuals, parents, and spouses.
• Communities for Decency is a grass-roots statewide women’s organization. Their Web site contains online articles and references to other resources. They also engage in political action.
• CP-80 Internet Channel Initiative. The Internet Community Ports Act (ICPA) promotes the use of Internet channels (ports) to categorize and organize content on the Internet. The act would create Community Port channels for general-public content and Open Port channels for mature content, such as pornography.
• Cyber Secrets: The Problem of Pornography is a series of presentations given at a special conference sponsored by Women’s Services and Resources, a department of Student Life at Brigham Young University. The Web site offers the presentations in streaming audio or in print.
• Lighted Candle Society is a nondenominational, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of moral values. Their Web site contains information about the evils and extent of pornography. They also offer a DVD and other materials.
• Mental Health Resource Foundation is a volunteer organization committed to carrying a message of hope to those who may be suffering from mental illness and social/emotional concerns and those who love them. Their Web site has information on pornography and links to other resources and organizations.
• National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending biblical truth about sexuality. Their Web site has information about avoiding pornography and protecting children from it, as well as links to other organizations.
• Strengthen the Family is a non-profit organization that seeks to strengthen families and protect communities by helping them establish child-appropriate public display standards. The Web site has articles on the dangers of pornography and Internet safety, including practical advice for parents. Listen to a talk given at BYU education week in 2001 (search for speaker “JoAnn Hamilton”).
• Evergreen International is a non profit organization dedicated to helping LDS individuals overcome same-sex attraction and assosiated issues, such as pornography. They provide help to individuals, families, professional counselors, and Church leaders. Their large Web site has a few dozen pages on avoiding and overcoming pornography.

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For several years, there has been an effort to establish a new .xxx domain for online pornography. It has been shot down several times, but it is back in the news again. The Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet’s nonprofit body with authority for development, has issued a revised proposed agreement for establishing a .xxx domain and has invited public comment until February 5, 2007.

The Florida company pushing for the .xxx domain thinks it’s a great idea to create a virtual red-light district on the Internet. And even those who oppose pornography might at first glance think it would be helpful to  put all the porn in one .xxx area so it would be easy to block for those who want to block it.  However, the creation of a .xxx domain would not require pornographers who are on the .com domain to move to the .xxx domain. Any efforts to coral pornography into a corner of the Internet has been fought voraciously by the ACLU under First Amendment rights.
The Family Research Council warned on its Web site that “pornographers will be given even more opportunities to flood our homes, libraries and society with pornography through the .xxx domain.”

Even the Bush administration intervened in the process in August 2005 by sending a letter to ICANN saying: “The Department of Commerce has received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children.”

There is no easy answer to the pornography issue on the Internet. Tomorrow, I’ll blog about community efforts to clean up pornography or at least attempt to corral it on the Internet.

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You may be interested in an article by eMarketer on the size and direction of today’s sex entertainment business.

Is it shrinking, or merely changing technologies?

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55% of the U.S. teens surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project use social networking sites, and 85% of them use MySpace most often. About half visit a social network site at least once a day.

Reasons to visit a social network site:

• To stay in touch with friends you see a lot: 91%
• To stay in touch with friends you rarely see in person: 82%
• To make plans with your friends: 72%
• To make new friends: 49%
• To flirt with someone: 17%

For more on social networking, read eMarketer’s Social Network Marketing: Carving Out Some MySpace report.