Dude beats his daughter with a belt...

[jpj]

Online age restriction has never been a measure to protect the underage audience, it's trivial to circumvent. It's a measure to protect the site owners from millions of lawsuits: "see, we've tried!"

so what system would need to be in place as a measure to protect minors from viewing content deemed inappropriate on a free website?

[Jockel]

Online age restriction has never been a measure to protect the underage audience, it's trivial to circumvent. It's a measure to protect the site owners from millions of lawsuits: "see, we've tried!"

so what system would need to be in place as a measure to protect minors from viewing content deemed inappropriate on a free website?

It's called parenting.

[Elixir]

Online age restriction has never been a measure to protect the underage audience, it's trivial to circumvent. It's a measure to protect the site owners from millions of lawsuits: "see, we've tried!"

so what system would need to be in place as a measure to protect minors from viewing content deemed inappropriate on a free website?

The belt.

[jpj]

Online age restriction has never been a measure to protect the underage audience, it's trivial to circumvent. It's a measure to protect the site owners from millions of lawsuits: "see, we've tried!"

so what system would need to be in place as a measure to protect minors from viewing content deemed inappropriate on a free website?

It's called parenting.

what is...? what are you on about

[moozooh]

so what system would need to be in place as a measure to protect minors from viewing content deemed inappropriate on a free website?

On the site's end? Unless you force registration based on secure identifiers way too hard to obtain for a child, such as plastic card with associated bank credentials, it will be trivial to circumvent. Haven't you ever scoured your apartment for porn mags when your parents weren't around? You're adult now, you should well know nothing is safe from a curious kid if it physically exists in the same closed space. In this sense, Jockel is absolutely right: proper parenting is the only remotely effective measure. (And by effective it practically means the kids will likely gain access anyway, but at least they'll be aware of the consequences.)

[jpj]

here is what you said:

Online age restriction has never been a measure to protect the underage audience, it's trivial to circumvent. It's a measure to protect the site owners from millions of lawsuits: "see, we've tried!"

so i asked you what do you think youtube would need to do then if they want to actually protect an underage audience from viewing that type of content

now you are saying they are in fact doing pretty much what you could reasonably expect a free website to do

so how do you then draw the conclusion that age-restrictions are only to protect themselves from lawsuits if you agree that there isn't much more they can reasonably do?

[moozooh]

There is no contradiction, jpj. YouTube isn't doing everything it can to prevent minors from watching, it's doing everything it's expected to do.

There are laws in place about conduct with minors, and there is legal responsibility to take. So YouTube is expected to be responsible for showing potentially harmful content to minors. What they're doing is, effectively, flat-out asking users, "Here is content not intended for minors. Are you a minor?" They are being honest about everything, so, by default, they expect the same from users: if the user turns out to be minor, YT won't show the content. If the user lies... well, it's their problem then, nobody gives a shit.

Everybody—legal bodies included—understands that all it takes to work around this "protection" is a little bit of dishonesty. The only reason such measure even exists is denial of responsibility, much like a disclaimer. Not that it's a bad thing per se, because the judiciary system has become so bloated and abused that everything needs a disclaimer these days, this very site included.

The problem—if it even exists in the first place—must be dealt with on the user end, because if it isn't solved there, it won't be solved anywhere else. An elaborate system that is tied to some financial or social infrastructure only adults have access to will create many problems but solve none.

[jpj]

i think you're trying to argue against a point i never made

greg has the opinion that while videos like this do have a place on the internet, youtube may not be the most appropriate website for it. to which some new members had some problem with, as if any video should be uploaded to youtube no problem. to which i replied:

err, youtube actually encourages people to flag violent or otherwise offensive/harmful content

which is probably why this video is age-restricted

now, there are lots of videos on youtube showing violent behaviour, and i'm sure there are plenty that are worse than the video this thread is about. but very few will have age restriction on them. so i can't agree that youtube are seriously worried about lawsuits with respects to that type of content. the videos that do have age restriction on them are because youtube users have flagged the videos. and they encourage people to do that because it's not feasable for youtube staff to sit and watch every video that gets uploaded on a daily basis just in case it has violent content.

i never said it's a system that works, or that people can't get around that, or whatever it is you seem to be trying to argue with me about.

people have flagged the video, but youtube staff have decided not to remove it, but to place an age restriction on it. if they feel that the video isn't breaking their community guidelines, that's a reasonable step they can take to try and lessen how many minors would view the video

while you may not agree that putting an age restriction is a good measure, or fool-proof, or whatever, it is still a measure, and it's not as if they can reasonably do more than that if the video doesn't fall outside of their community guidelines

[moozooh]

Er, I'm not really arguing with you, I've just been answering the questions directed at me and expressing my own opinion in the process, having lost track of what started the conversation in the first place.

I'll just stop now; this topic has had enough attention, and none of the members of this crazy family deserve it.

[Jockel]

what is...? what are you on about

With the internet available to almost everyone nowadays, Kids can view inappropriate material any time they want. The important/difficult part is to raise responsible children that choose to not watch that sort of stuff. I know I sound like a pretentious dick, sorry.