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It would appear that the relationship between these two matters may soon extend beyond the sharing of their first letter.

After reading this story one can't help but get the feeling that there will soon be a major tradeoff raising its head in the war against the worst forms of porn.

It has to be acknowledged that kiddy-porn is something which society considers to be completely unacceptable -- but will this level of revulsion be strong enough for people to accept some form of official spyware in their Net software?

Let's face it, if Microsoft *really* wants to help control kiddy-porn, they could make a huge impact by having their OS or browser report any attempts to access image files or video with filenames or signatures known to be associated with such material.

Okay, it wouldn't be foolproof -- and there's bound to be numerous false triggers, such as where a file named childsx.jpg actually contains a online catalogue picture of childrens sox.

However, I suspect that many of the worst material appears on the net in files with a name known to the porn-police. If a user's PC flagged more than a predetermined number of hits on such files then it would be a simple task to have that PC automatically contact authorities and dob-in the user.

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The real question however, is would *you* willingly install software which you knew was going to be constantly watching over your shoulder just to make sure you're not trading in kiddy-porn?

Surely, if you've nothing to hide, there'd be no problem in giving up this small amount of privacy in return for knowing that a percentage of those who choose to indulge in activities deemed to be unacceptable are being caught.

So what's it to be -- Porn or Privacy?

Maybe this big-brother approach could also be used for catching spammers in the act and even going so far as to shut down their PCs if it's proven that they're sending bulk unsolicited email?

So would you forego more privacy in return for reduced spam levels?

I'm all in favour of protecting our kids against exploitation - but I think we must also consider the rights of the general population. Failing to do so would ultimately result in all homes being wired with CCTV cameras that were monitored 24/7 so as to catch all those who smoke dope, engage in domestic violence or just about any other form of crime.

What worries me about the way things are heading is that, just as we've seen with "The War Against Terror", the chances are that sooner or later we're going to be told that we suddenly need to give up some (more) of our rights -- for our own good.

The powers that be will tell us that they're taking our privacy away in our own best interests -- so we can fight these evil pornographers and spammers -- and who could argue that this isn't a good thing?

However, you must remember that governments are often not totally honest when they roll out justifications for such things. If you recall, we were originally told that speed cameras were *not* a revenue generation tool but a road-safety tool and that they'd only be used in black-spots and never be hidden. After we all accepted that -- we now find that they *are* being hidden and their use is no longer restricted to black spots. I believe the latest slogan is "anywhere, any time".

Paranoia? Or a healthy desire to make sure that we can retain at least a little privacy?

The Sunday Programme
Many of you will already have seen that the Sunday programme will be featuring a segment on my missile activities and my battles with the IRD this weekend.

I have no idea exactly what perspective is being taken on the issues involved but hope it's an objective summary of events and the facts.

Oh, and I need more links for the Lighten-Up feature. Come on, hand them over!

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