ATVOD action bans adult service outright for first time

[nysprod]

Sites can't accept debit cards as payment because under 18's can have them.

http://www.digitaltveurope.net/123411/atvod-action-bans-adult-service-outright-for-first-time/

[GroobySteven]

That's got nothing to do with "free speach".
Two different things, don't use the slippery slope argument.

[nysprod]

That's got nothing to do with "free speach".
Two different things, don't use the slippery slope argument.

Beg to differ, but I believe that it does and I'll explain my reasoning with an example:

Some anti abortion states would love to outlaw abortion, but they can't because the supreme court has ruled in favor. So what they are doing to limit abortions is requiring doctors who perform them to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, which most do not have and can't get. This is having a serious effect on limiting the availability of abortion services, allthough they are still somewhat available.

Likewise with limiting adult sites to not being able to accept payment with debit cards.

So, you are right in that free speech is not being completely curtailed...but it is being limited.

[Stavros]

Sites can't accept debit cards as payment because under 18's can have them.

http://www.digitaltveurope.net/123411/atvod-action-bans-adult-service-outright-for-first-time/

In the article you link it states:
UK video-on-demand regulator ATVOD has take action leading to the banning of a VoD service outright for the first time.

Although the ATVOD did not ban a website called 'bootybox' last year (2012) it did successfully use its powers to force the website to close:
ATVOD followed up its ruling with an Enforcement Notification, requiring the provider of Bootybox.tv to either remove the hardcore porn content from the service or put it all behind effective access controls which will ensure that only adults can see it. The service has now ceased operating.
http://www.atvod.co.uk/news-consultations/news-consultationsnews/20120201-bootybox-determination

Playboy was fined £100,000 earlier this year for failing to prevent an under-18 accessing its site (see next link below).

The key issue is the accessibility of porn through age verification and credit card filters -

ATVOD last year investigated 23 notified ‘adult’ services, finding 13 to be in breach of the statutory rules because they featured hard-core porn material which could be accessed by under 18’s.
Two of those found to be in breach have now closed and eight have made themselves compliant by placing all hardcore material behind an effective access control mechanism. Four services which failed to make changes according to the timetable set by ATVOD were referred to Ofcom, and three have now been fined a total of £160,000. Further investigations are ongoing.
http://www.atvod.co.uk/news-consultations/news-consultationsnews/playboy-tv-fined-100-000-for-breaches-of-atvod-rules


-Clearly if some sites have the ability to make themselves 'compliant by placing all hardcore material behind an effective control mechanism' they can continue trading while avoiding punishment. Free speech as such has not been violated, it is 'merely' the law trying to make access to pornography more complicated, possibly more expensive for the provider (I don't know what extra costs are involved in meeting ATVOD guidelines).



Another alternative is for sites to offer customers alternative methods of payment -a major cam site, for example, allows customers to use a UKASH voucher which can be purchased in many retail outlets. I assume there is no need to offer proof of age when buying it as a UKASH voucher can be used to purchase all sorts of online goods -so don't quote me on that.
-afterthought: I think a lot or purchasing online must be done by over-18s regardless of the product.



Whether or not this will stop under-18s from accessing porn I don't know -there are a plethora of 'tube' sites which do not have any age verification barriers. In the UK, tobacco products are not supposed to be visible to customers but outside major supermarkets most of the small 'corner shops' where I live do not have a screen to protect my eyes from the sight of a product that can kill me even if I don't use it.

[sukumvit boy]

People should demand that the credit card companies simply provide an "18 or over" check if required.
Shouldn't be that difficult , right!

[dderek123]

You can't stop the internet.

[rodinuk]

ATVOD's Rules 2.0 have been around now for 18 months although not as long as the arcane Obscene Publications Act (1959 & 1964) used for the prosecution of the Lady Chatterley's Lover and Oz trials and underpinning the ATVOD work.

Here's an extract from Rule 11:


Rule 11: Harmful Material: Protection of Under18s


Provided the material is not illegal, content which ATVOD considers falls under this Rule(i.e. ‘material which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of persons under the age of eighteen’) may be made available in an on demand programme service provided access is controlled in a manner which secures that persons under eighteen ‘will not normally see or hear’ such material.
ATVOD’s provisional interpretation of this requirement is that there should be in place an effective Content Access Control System (“CAC System”) which verifies that the user is aged 18 or over at the point of registration or access by the mandatory use of technical tools for age verification and, if age verification does not take place each time the user returns to the service, controls further access to such content when the user returns to the service by the use of mandatory security controls such as passwords or PIN numbers.

Technical tools which may be acceptable for age verification purposes include:

Confirmation of credit card ownership or other form of payment where mandatory proof that the holder is 18 or over is required prior to issue.

A reputable personal digital identity management service which uses checks on an independent and reliable database, such as the electoral roll.

Other comparable proof of account ownership which effectively verifies age.

ATVOD will not regard confirmation of ownership of a Debit, Solo or Electron card or any other card where the card holder is not required to be 18 or over to be verification that a user of a service is aged 18 or over.