LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Mark Newton <newton@atdot.dotat.org>
  To  : Robert Wuttke <robert.wuttke@disc.com.au>
  Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 09:20:16 +0930 (CST)

Re: Opinions on New Internet Bill (While I am still allowed to

Robert Wuttke wrote:

 > So this totally ignores the fact that some kids learn
 > to duplicate one or the other parents signatures, have access to the credit
 > card (let's just rip it off from mum/dad) and can get hold of an order form
 > somehow.

This is another fallacy the Government has not been interested in 
persuing:  Adult verification schemes don't work because ownership
of a credit card is not evidence of your age.  It is possible to 
obtain a foreign credit card from the net;  it is also possible to
legally acquire a credit card with a zero-dollar credit limit from 
Australian financial institutions.

When that aspect of "adult verification" techniques is known, it becomes
clear that their only "useful" effect is to restrict privacy by forcing
visitors to identify themselves.  If a child actually wants to see
something on the other side of an adult verification service, there's
absolutely nothing preventing them from doing so.

This is why the US Supreme Court, the Canadian CRTC, and virtually 
everyone else who has looked at the matter except the Select Committee
on IT has agreed that there is no way to validate someone's age on 
the Internet.

   -  mark

--------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried an internal modem,                    newton@atdot.dotat.org
     but it hurt when I walked.                          Mark Newton
----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: +61-8-82231777 -----

-- 
Check out the LinuxSA web pages at http://www.linuxsa.org.au/
To unsubscribe from the LinuxSA list:
  mail linuxsa-request@linuxsa.org.au with "unsubscribe" as the subject