There are several points to make here:

1. From my discussions with other Gnutellians, it seems to be quite common for new users of Gnutella to start with searches for all the most extreme, illegal files they can think of. In the vast majority of cases, the novelty of the really nasty stuff quickly wears off.

2. Any type of filter would be very difficult to implement, since a wide variety of keywords are used for child porn, for example.

3. As almost 100% of Gnutella users have at some point downloaded pirated music, videos and software, access to the moral high ground is a very steep and windy path. If you were going to apply filters to child porn or snuff movies you would also need to filter out other illegal material or be accused of double standards.

4. The problem is the demand not the supply. Censorship, whether you're in favour or not, is no longer a viable option. With modern technology, wherever there is demand there will be a supply. Hackers, pornographers and Co. will always , by definition, be ten steps ahead of the authorities as a change in official policy requires:
-A period of study
-The filing of a report
-The approval of a plan of action and budget
-The necessary training
-The purchase of any required equipment
All this before the change can be implemented, by which time the crooks are in another league.

5. For me a truly unrestricted net like Gnutella with no institutional or commercial controls like in all the major portals on the WWW is vital for the Internet. The presence of distesteful material is the perhaps the price we have to pay. The only option is self-censorship and to put democratic pressure (through forums like this one or through client chats) on people who distribute this material.

I completely agree that an option to filter out all adult content at setup in Limewire would be very useful , and essential if the software is going to be used by kids. The quickest solutionwould be password-lockng the options so that they (especially the filters page) can only be viewed and edited by entering a code.

Unfortunately, those who post adult material use a wide variety of keywords to make it easy to find and Limewire still regularly returns erroneous search results so porn is still going to crop up whatever filters you put in place. For example, I tried a search for 'Mariah Carey' with a number of filters in place and still got back a few references to XXX videos/photos.

A limit is a control, you can't have both, you need to choose which is more important, freedom or control.

realy i m sorry to be that lazy and not to post here so i d like to thank u a lot and say u are great

first tyciol drags this out of the ancient past with a semi-coherent post, and now you make this post....sheshus...

now that's an understatement to say the least...you're sorry all right...a sorry excuse for a human being...

__________________


So Long and Thanks for All the Files
_____________________________________________

Beware of the big 3 insurance companies in Texas! Read your policies carefully (maybe you'll need a lawyer) Allstate, Farmers & State Farm are overextended and their 'coverage' is worthless...a true waste of your money Read This

Which is to be? Who chooses? Once you allow control they will want to control all of it and I assure you they will have absolutely good reasons to limit what they want limited.

Terrorism? Better control dissent. Anti government? Can't have that either. Marijuana? Heaven forbid.

Organize a demonstration about Tibet while in China? Oh no need to control that. Bejing has already done that. If you think you're not next you're really wrong my friend.

Just as a reality check here, I doubt there's any child porn on Limewire. Posters use suggestive text in the titles to lure people in, but as far as I can tell (as I've checked in on a number of occasions) the actual contents are always legal.

You are correct in my opinion kepella in your judgement of probably 99% of the texts. Unfortunately the 1% or less actually is what it perports to be. Recent on-line articles I've read tell me that the authorities are concentrating their efforts on people who upload. If you download something delete it from the machine and it won't be in your shared library.

i see all this stuff as well
it bothers me

you people need a reality check....the materials are not on LimeWire, they are on the gnutella network....hosted by people who have them on their own computers and have chosen to share them...they might be using LW, BS, Phex, or any other gnutella client...

__________________


So Long and Thanks for All the Files
_____________________________________________

Beware of the big 3 insurance companies in Texas! Read your policies carefully (maybe you'll need a lawyer) Allstate, Farmers & State Farm are overextended and their 'coverage' is worthless...a true waste of your money Read This