Sex, Drugs, and Rockin' Orrin Hatch
By Michael Swaine
The Honorable Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
Washington, D.C.
Dear Senator Hatch:
You've been criticized (www.hotwired.com/news/news/politics/story/5153.html) for your efforts on behalf of the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996 (ftp.loc.gov/pub/
thomas/c104/h4331.ih.txt), which makes it a Federal crime to advertise materials that convey the impression, true or not, that minors will be sexually depicted, or to produce what looks like child porn even if no actors of any age are involved; that is, even if it's all computer simulated.
But your position is consistent: Back in 1995, you successfully kept a realtime transcript of Judiciary Committee hearings into child pornography off the Net. If you don't even want discussions of kiddie porn online, why should you put up with fake kiddie porn online?
Still, I think you're missing a good bet.
If you ask me, Senator, problems with the Internet's content are nothing compared to the problem of its lack of content. You know what Gertrude Stein said about Oakland, California? That there's no there there? I think you know what she meant, although I'm not sure, since you do spend half your life in Utah.
Anyway, I think the same could be said of the Internet. Yes, there's good stuff out there, but there's way more noise than signal.
