UK Internet Users Forced To Choose Whether They Want Porn Or Not

LONDON – A coalition of major U.K. Internet providers said Tuesday that it would begin forcing customers to choose whether to have access to pornography and other potentially unsavoury websites, rather than simply offering consumers the option to block them.

Or, if you live in the UK you can also say "yes" - it's your call.

The family advocate behind the move says it will push families to think about what their children are looking at online, but civil libertarians worry that adults could be caught up in — and potentially get used to — online censorship.

“The choice needs to be framed as a choice about parental controls,” said Jim Killock, the chief executive of Britain’s Open Rights Group. “Adults should not be being asked to make choices about content they may wish to view, or may need to view in the future.”

Like their counterparts elsewhere, British Internet providers have long offered customers the option of installing parental blocks to protect children from objectionable content — including not just pornography and gambling but also websites that promote eating disorders, self-harm or suicide.

But a government-ordered review into the sexualization of children published in June recommended that parents be forced to make an explicit choice whether to include the blocks. The review’s author, family advocate Reg Bailey, told BBC television that the issue with existing parental controls is that “the default position is that they’re turned off.”

He said forcing the choice is a way to confront parents with the question: “Do you actually want to access adult material on the Internet through this device?”

“That persuades parents in many ways to have a conversation with children and young people about whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” he told the broadcaster. “It’s a much more active process than it is at present.”

Killock said he didn’t have a problem with stronger parental controls — so long as they remained just that. The danger, he said, was that forcing adult consumers to explicitly state whether they wanted to access pornography or other material might intimidate some into agreeing to a form of censorship.

“If you’re faced with the question: ‘Do you wish to switch on adult content, yes or no?’ then people will switch it off because they might think: ‘Oh my partner won’t approve,’” he said. “It’s inappropriate to get adults to start living in a censored world.”

The four providers who’ve pledged to implement the new measure are the BT Group PLC, British Sky Broadcasting Ltd., Virgin Media and the TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC. None of the providers gave a precise timeline for when the measure would be put into place.

Online Dating Study Claims That Men Value Love $73 More Than Sex

WhatsYourPrice.com, an online dating website where users buy or sell first dates, just announced the results of a three month long study which concludes that men value love $73 more than sex.

Love = $194, Sex = $121

According to the online dating study, men seeking casual or no-strings-attached relationships paid an average of $121 for a first date, whereas single men looking for serious long-term relationships paid an average of $194 for the opportunity of finding love.

“We often hear the stereotype that men value sex and women value love,” says Founder & CEO of WhatsYourPrice.com and MIT alumni, Brandon Wade. “Our online dating study shows this stereotype is wrong. In fact, men value love more than sex by over 60%.”

The online dating study also finds that men who seek only casual or no-strings attached relationships tend to be serial daters and more prolific, paying for first dates over 2.1 times more, than commitment-minded men.

Over 50,000 men were included in this online dating study. To determine the value of love and sex, the average price members paid for a first date on WhatsYourPrice.com was calculated. The value of love is determined as the price paid for a first date by singles looking only for long-term relationships and marriage. The value of sex is calculated as the price paid for a first date by those seeking short-term relationships, extra-marital affairs and casual relationships.

No thank you.

One Third Of Americans Would Choose iPhone Over Sex

A national survey found that a third of Americans would rather give up sex than their smartphones, as mobile devices become even more rooted into people’s lives.

You're doing it wrong

The survey by Telenav found people are more likely to give up a variety of habits instead of their smartphones. More than 50 percent of people would rather give up caffeine, chocolate or exercise than part with their iPhones or Blackberrys for a week, while a hygienically questionable 22 percent would be willing to part with their toothbrushes.

Telenav’s survey dovetails with psychologists’ recent findings that more people that would rather fiddle with their smartphones than interact with other human beings. An increasing number of people sleep with their phones and check them incessantly, fearing that they will miss something unless they stay plugged-in.

According to another study by OkCupid, overly-active Twitter users have shorter relationships than those who use the service sparingly or not at all. Maintaining a sturdy Twitter following requires people to update status messages all the time, making heavy users feel the need to constantly pull out their cell phones and read their latest tweets. The habit disconnects them from the world around them, including their loved ones.

Telenav’s study went one step further and broke down its findings specifically by the types of smartphone that people used. Just 10 percent of iPhone users admitted to ending a relationship via text message, voicemail, Facebook or Twitter, as opposed to 18 percent of Android users and 15 percent of BlackBerry users.

Perhaps iPhone owners are luckier in love because they try to date their own kind. More than 80 percent of iPhone users said they think other iPhone owners would make the best romantic partners.

The survey didn’t specify whether these iPhone users think it’s the ability to Facetime, sync their music libraries or just geek out over Apple products that assures them a lifetime of happiness.