OREM, UT – For parents seeking an effective way to keep their kids away from internet porn, Ralph Yarro figures he has the ideal solution; all he needs now is a fundamental shift in internet protocols, and the enactment of groundbreaking federal legislation.Yarro is the head of ThinkAtomic, Inc., a technology think tank based in Orem, UT which has put its other projects on hold to apply its tech savvy to the ‘problem’ of internet porn.
“The majority of my team, we are all hard-core technology businessmen,” Yarro said in an interview with the Desert Morning News, “so we thought we’d take a look at it from that perspective. We’re also fathers and husbands, so we care about this from that perspective.”
Yarro and his cohorts have set up a non-profit group, CP80, which has proposed that the Net’s existing ports and protocols be changed in order to categorize all online content into a system of ‘channels’ which surfers could then choose from – something along the lines of cable television on a far more massive scale.
CP80’s whole concept hinges on a major shift in two areas that are traditionally reticent towards sudden shifts, however – internet protocols and federal law. This is because the CP80 concept (which originally stood for “Clean Port 80”) proposes to change the current system, and sub-divide online content into separate ports.
As daunting as the task of swaying legislators towards making these changes may sound, Yarro and his group are certainly giving it the old college try; they have employed Ralph Thomson, president and CEO of International Business Catalysts, to help lobby on Capitol Hill.
“One of the things that we’re finding is that CP80 has the right sound to it,” Thomson said. “It’s not a technology that has to be developed; the software and the hardware pieces are in place. Now it’s just a matter of getting the policy in place so we can have at least some part of the internet that is free of the filth and free of the degradation.”
Yarro and other members of CP80 have already given presentations to Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennet (all of Utah), as well as a number of state level officials, and held telephone consultations with Congressman Bob Bishop, one of Utah’s representatives in the House.
In a statement issued last week, Hatch characterized online pornography as a “clear and present danger to children and families,” and praised the efforts of CP80.
“We have to pursue creative and innovative solutions to this growing public health threat, and CP80 is one of the leaders in that effort,” Hatch said.
Despite Hatch’s praise, and a generally good reception from legislators and anti-porn activists, Yarro’s solution is not without its pitfalls. One of the biggest problems some critics see is the alarming potential for large-scale, involuntary filtering that does not, in fact, rest in the hands of ends users.
“On the face of it, it sounds reasonable to make a ‘channel’,” said Brandon Shalton, technology consultant to ASACP.org, “but once you have segregated and labeled something, then you can control, tax, block, etc., everything on that port.”
The CP80 solution would have the same difficulty with issues of maintenance and policing that other forms of labeling, filtering and ‘zoning’ have, Shalton noted. As with all previously suggested “blacklist” concepts, the CP80 would need an organization to police the port and enforce the rules, and international cooperation.
Shalton added that the best solution he has seen proposed thus far is the .KIDS TLD, asserting that ‘white lists’ are far easier to maintain, and remain the best way to prevent children from seeing “the bad stuff.”
Yarro contends that his concept does not constitute censorship; rather it’s simply a way to prevent children – and unwilling adults – from being exposed to pornography. By delegating specific channels for adult content, Yarro says CP80 avoids 1st Amendment issues by continuing to allow pornographers to publish content, and offering users the ability to access it, or not, based on their own preferences.
“We had to preserve freedom of speech,” Yarro said, “and that’s what we’ve done. It’s not censoring, and I don’t believe I’ll hear a free-speech fight. The consumer who wants the internet like they have it today, nothing has changed. You still have it all. Those who don’t want it, on an opt-in basis, won’t get it.”
Yarro said that with the technology pieces in place, CP80 is now focusing on legislation, noting that new laws will need to be enacted to mandate that adult content be moved off port 80. In essence, without legal teeth, and at least the threat of enforcement, CP80 would be just another voluntary filtering half-measure.
“There needs to be a legislative process to determine, dictate and be very specific in forcing adult content onto its own channel,” Yarro said. “I don’t believe we’ll get the movement without legislation. We need the penalties associated with noncompliance.”
Time to lace up your gloves for that free speech fight you didn’t believe you’d get, Mr. Yarro.
