Classification and "Collateral Damage"
Abstract
Discussion of problems with the Internet censorship Bill has focused
on the technical issues with blocking and the economic burden on ISPs.
This analysis looks at problems with the classification system created
by the legislation, and in particular the choice it creates between
massive collateral damage and an impossible classification task.
Rather than an abstract analysis, it contains a case study of how
the proposed system might work on an actual web site.
Warning: this document contains discussion of themes which some
may find disturbing, as well as links to content which may be illegal
in some states of Australia.
Note: numbers in bold, such as [1], are references to
sections of the legislation. For more information about this, see
the EFA info page.
Introduction
The site chosen for examination is http://assm.asstr.org/erotica/assm/,
which contains the monthly archives of postings to
the Usenet newsgroup alt.sex.stories.moderated.
Note that this is only a portion of a larger site http://assm.asstr.org/erotica/,
which in turn is hosted on a server assm.asstr.org which may
contain any number of other sites.
To understand the effects of the legislation on this site, or rather
the actions various Australians will be allowed or obliged to take in
regard to it, we must first ascertain whether the site is located in
Australia or not. The .to domain ostensibly indicates a
Tongan site, but traceroute suggests that the server is co-located with
above.net, which is a United States company. The balance of probablity
is, at any rate, that the hardware serving these web pages is not
physically within Australia. (The pages on the site will, of course,
have passed through routers physically located in Australia on their
way to Australian users, and probably through a cache or two.)
The next question is, could any of the material on this site be X-rated
or RC-rated? alt.sex.stories.moderated is a non-binary
group and the site appears to be text-only. Since nothing on this site
consists of "the entire unmodified contents of a film" or "a computer
game" [10], it will be classified (by the Classification Board)
"in a corresponding way to the way in which a film would be classified
under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act
1995" [11].
In the OFLC's "Cinema
and Video Ratings Guide" we find the following:
R 18+
Material considered likely to harmful to those under 18 years
and/or possibly offensive to some sections of the adult community
warrants an R classification.
Language: There are virtually no restrictions on language on R films.
Sex: sexual intercourse or other sexual activity may be realistically
implied or simulated.
Violence: highly realistic and explicit depictions
of violence may be shown, but not if unduly detailed, relished or
cruel. Depictions of sexual violence are acceptable only to the extent
that they are necessary to the narrative and not exploitative.
Other: drug use may depicted, but not in an advocatory
manner. Extreme horror special effects usually warrant an R.
X 18+
No depiction of sexual violence, co-ercion or non-consent of any kind is
permitted in this classification. Material which can be accomodated in this
classification includes explicit depictions of sexual acts between
consenting adults and mild non-violent fetishes.
RC
Any film or video which includes any of the following will be refused classification:
- depictions of child sexual abuse, bestiality, sexual acts accompanied
by offensive fetishes, or exploitative incest fantasies;
- unduly detailed and/or relished acts of extreme violence or cruelty;
explicit or unjustifiable depictions of sexual violence against
non-consenting persons;
- detailed instruction or encouragement in:
- matters of crime or violence
- the abuse of proscribed drugs
There are no precedents for the application of the film classification
guidelines to written material. But "depiction" can include written
descriptions.
Let us keep an open mind on this issue and proceed to look at
some of the actual content on this site. Let us read some erotic fiction.
The Stories
What do we find on this site?
The Light
Some of the material here is quite tame. Searching for stories
labelled "rom" (for romantic), and avoiding the more disturbing labels
(about which more later), we find such things as:
- (29k) {ASSM} My Reward Ch27 (MC, no sex, young love, rom, baseball)
- http://assm.asstr.org/Year1999/20323.txt [DEAD]
"Daydream Believer"
- http://assm.asstr.org/Year99/20480.txt [DEAD]
This is a brief but lyrical story "Moments", by someone called Neos Fyllo.
I was rather taken by this, so I'm going to inflict a considerable chunk
of it on you, as representative of the kind of content likely to be the
subject of "collateral damage".
(C) Neos Fyllo - all rights reserved.
Reposted due to being awarded three tens by Celeste.
Moments
-------
It was the shoe that first caught my attention. I was sitting
in the waiting room of the railway station, reading a book.
Something kept flicking in and out of the periphery of my
vision.
I could stand it no longer. I turned to look at the shoe
bobbing up and down. It was casually hanging off the
stockinged foot of a woman seated three chairs away from me.
My eyes surreptitiously roved up the black stocking to her
calf where I lingered a moment then continued on up to the
thigh, where my view of the crossed leg was abruptly
terminated by the hem of a dark pinstriped skirt. Moving on up
her body I eventually came to rest on the woman's face, only
to be disconcerted by the smile of recognition at my not so
surreptitious staring. I looked away flustered and
embarrassed.
But it was the smile that did it.
-- * --
We walked out of the theatre hand in hand. I was feeling,
well, high I guess. The performances had all been fine, even
the play was pretty good. But my date, now she was something
special. We'd laughed at all the same moments and had held
hands without embarrassment or prompting. She even listened
kindly to my half-baked critique at the end.
She was special all right.
-- * --
I was the nervous one. My parents were meeting Emily for the
first time, but it was me that was flapping about, worrying
needlessly over the meal we were cooking together. She was
serene and supportive, assured and confident. As I stood there
in the kitchen, flour down my front and a silly nervous smile
on my face, I looked at her and I knew. I also knew that she'd
bowl my parents over.
She did, of course.
--* --
The drive to the coast was a warm, dreamy experience, like
nothing I'd ever experienced before. The ring on my finger
still felt foreign to me. I set the cruise control and put my
arm around my wife as best I could. My wife. It still seemed
like I was in someone else's dream.
The honeymoon suite in the small hotel was cosy, warm,
inviting and just right. I sat on the edge of the bed and
watched her step seductively into the room, framed in the
doorway of the bathroom. The soft light shone through her
translucent night-gown illuminating her feminine curves. I
almost choked with mixture of lust and joy. That first time
she showed not the slightest nervousness or hesitation. My
feelings of fulfilment and pleasure had never been so
complete. I knew at that moment I would do anything for this
woman, absolutely anything.
Whatever it took.
-- * --
We waited expectantly by her bed all night long. In the early
hours we were rewarded by the sight of the first puppy. I
carefully lifted up the little scrap of life and placed it
next to it's mother's stomach. Lady licked it vigorously till
it mewled then she picked it up by the scruff and dropped it
next to a waiting nipple.
I sat transfixed by this display of nature at it's most
maternal. I looked up at Emily and smiled a dopey smile of a
happy father by proxy. A moment of insight passed between us
and she nodded an affirmative to my unspoken question.
It was settled, we were to be a family.
-- * --
.
.
.
.
.
-- * --
Maria bought her new baby home to show us. Maria's husband,
Stephen, was anxious about Emily holding little Alice but
Maria shoo'd him away. The same sense of calm and confidence
had now settled on Maria. Emily had worked her magic in some
mystical way that I would never understand, but would always
appreciate more than I could say.
Being a grandparent was a thrill that I'd never thought
possible. Looking at little Alice in Emily's arms made me
think of what might have been, but the thought was fleeting. I
knew I couldn't complain, I had been more than privileged with
what I'd had in my life. Simply being with Emily was enough.
More than enough.
-- * --
I looked up startled, feeling uncomfortable. I had been lost
in thoughts and memories, looking back over a lifetime's
moments again. Fragments that mirrored several decades of joy
and sorrow. The coffin slid through the door as the organ
music started its sombre tones. I looked around at my fellow
mourners. Funerals were never the happiest places.
I reached over and clasped Emily's hand. Her skin was delicate
and almost translucent now. Her hand felt so small in mine.
"I guess it will soon be our turn, my love."
"Speak for yourself," she said, and gave me one of those
smiles that first attracted me.
The thought occurred to me, not for the first time, that I had
been one of life's lottery winners. Quite why I had been so
privileged to have shared my life with this woman was still a
mystery to me, but I knew it was the best thing that could
ever have possibly happened.
Life is, was and always would be, wonderful with Emily.
The End
There are also a number of reviews of stories by Celeste,
an English teacher who reviews online erotica on the side.
For example:
http://assm.asstr.org/erotica/assm/Year1999/20435.txt [DEAD]
You can find stronger stuff in the shelves of romance novels in
op-shops, for 20c a volume. Even under the Film guidelines, it is
unlikely that this would be R-rated, let alone X-rated.
Mainstream
Not everything is this lyrical or literary. The vast majority
of stories on the site are what one might call "mainstream erotica":
they contain explicit descriptions of sex, in all kinds of combinations
and modes - "mf", "Mfff", "mm", "tg", "anal", "oral", "sm", "bd", etc.
Film versions of most of this would be X-rated, though some of it might
be RC-rated now that "unacceptable fetishes" have been removed from the
old X category to create the NVE category.
Similar descriptions of explicit sex occur in many novels, including
widely read bestsellers. Just glancing at my own shelves, I can see
dozens of examples - for example Jean M. Auel's The Valley of the
Horses, a volume in the bestselling Earth's Children cycle, and
Henry Treece's The Golden Strangers. Online versions of these
two works might get away with an R-rating, but others would be prohibited
under the new legislation.
The Heavy Stuff
If we look at some of the other tags used, we find "nc" (for
non-consensual), "tort" (for torture), "ped" (for pedophile), "rape"
(for rape), "inc" (for incest) and so forth. And some of the stories
manage classification with several of these tags...
I don't want to risk breaching the law in this essay, or to offend
anyone, so I will refrain from quoting any of these stories. But here
are just a few of the entries from the March 1999 index:
- (11k) NEW The Director's Cut (nc, torture, snuff)
- (24k) {Dastardly Dodo} "The incest-club part3" (Mm/f Ffff con inc ped anal)
- (7k) Dan and Daisy 2/? M/f n/c, rape, torture
- (13k) TYGER: {Blackwind} "The Beer Party" (M+f ped nc rape) AIM=343
Similar material to this appears in the works of the Marquis de Sade,
in Unrestricted books available in ordinary bookshops.
On the other hand, under the legislation this material has to be evaluated
under the Film and Video classification code, not the Publications
code used for books. It seems like that much of this material would
be RC. (It also seems likely that online copies of Justine or
Philosophy in the Boudoir would also be prohibited under this
legislation, even though they can be sold in bookshops with no controls
at all.)
So what is the ABA going to do about this site?
No problem, I hear you say. They'll turn it over to the Office of
Film and Literature Classification, who are the experts at this sort of
thing, and the OFLC can "sort the wheat from the chaff", as it were.
It's not so simple. There are 680 entries in the March 1999 index
alone. The site covers 28 months, so, allowing for a bit of repetition
<-- (which you have cleverly catered for in [43]) --> and the
fact that many stories are posted in installments, there may be as many
as 10000 unique stories on this site, containing perhaps 100 megabytes
of text.
I'm not up to date with the current OFLC charging scheme, but at $4000
for a film/video classification decision, it will cost some forty million
dollars to have this one site classified, if it were done story by story.
That doesn't seem very practical to me, especially with several hundred
new stories being added to the site every month. The government has
only budgeted 1.5 million dollars per annum for classification costs
resulting from implementation of this Bill.
Perhaps the ABA will have the OFLC classify the site as a whole.
That will undoubtedly result in the entire site being prohibited (a
single RC item or scene can get a publication or film banned), resulting
in the kind of 'collateral damage' I mentioned earlier.
Perhaps the ABA can just pass the job on to the ISPs, telling them
that there is some prohibited material on the site and that
they have to block access to it. This will, of course, result in them
blocking the entire site, since they are not trained censors, know little
about the classification system, and won't want to risk huge fines.
So it is likely that this legislation will result in adult Australians
being prevented from reading large amounts of material which is perfectly
legal under any criteria.
Each of the stories on this site is a unique creation of an individual
author, so it is hard to justify treating the site as a single item.
The stories are also quite effectively decoupled - it is possible to
link directly to individual ones from other web pages, for example -
and the tagging is quite effective in helping one avoid unwanted kinds
of material.
Perhaps some people will consider this site is acceptable
"collateral damage". But consider http://www.dejanews.com/ [NOW Google Groups], which archives all the
text messages posted to Usenet (and hence contains all the stories at
http://assm.asstr.org/erotica/assm/, a fortiori). In 1998 the Dejanews
CEO reported:
"We have more than 300 gigabytes of data, representing 250 million
messages dating back to March 1995. Over 4 million people access
our site, viewing over 90 million page views each month."
Will the ABA/OFLC rule that all of this is prohibited content or that
none of it is prohibited content? Or will they attempt to classify 250
million messages individually?
Dejanews is a undoubtedly a valuable resource: it is
referenced in academic papers and widely used as a research
tool, as demonstrated in the Censorware Project's report.
There are many other sites which pose similar problems. Consider
for example
Go Ask Alice
(http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/index.html),
a sexual health information site at the University of Columbia.
Conclusions
Application of the Publications classification scheme to Internet content
would be unworkable. Application of the Film and Video guidelines is
just ludicrous.
The cliches about there being too much content online for censorship
to work can't just be ignored. Whatever happens, only a tiny fraction
of "prohibited" content can be blocked, making a mockery of claims that
this legislation will protect children. To succeed in blocking even
a few percent of "prohibited" content means that
- the ABA will have to hand over all of its budget and then some to
the OFLC to pay for classification costs; and
- there will be massive overblocking, enormous amounts of
"collateral damage" to perfectly unobjectionable content.
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