Hectix777 said:
Now before you get on your high horse and say, "that's like Naziism the Internet is built foe the free exchange of information, building relationships with people in other countries, and," blah, blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying, some people prove too immature to use the Internet.
No, I do not support needing a "license" to get on the internet; there is no need for one and it opens up too much potential for government abuse.
You misspelled "repercussions" in your poll; the Escapist forum rules, I believe, specifically ask you to spell-check your posts. Is this something that you think should get you booted off these forums? (I don't personally, I'm just pointing out that every website/forum/community has its own feeling and culture; The Escapist does a pretty good job of moderating the worst offenders with its human moderators and a report feature. Why complicate something that is working?)
The point I'm trying to make is this - things such as "politeness" and "civility" are relative and subjective to the person witnessing the behavior. One man's polite is another man's sugar-coated nonsense.
There is a site called RPGCodex with basically NO moderation where as far as I can tell people get off on being the biggest jerks they possibly can be to one another, and sometimes I frequent that site. It's amusing to me to see all the e-peen contests and wailing and gnashing of teeth over gaming-related issues. Under your "internet license" plan, RPGCodex would probably cease to exist.
And that would be a loss, because they have a unique culture over there - not one that I choose to participate in often or in the same way than many of the regulars do - but it's a different neighborhood than the moderated Escapist with its "don't be an asshole" rule.
The point is, I can *choose* which sites I visit. I actually like knowing which people are jerks and 11 year olds right from the get-go - because I can ignore them. I don't have to respond to their comments or really care what they say. (Not saying I wouldn't listen to, say, a particularly wise 11 year old.)
At 32 years old, most of the people I talk to on "gaming" sites are less mature than me in both the physical and emotional sense, from what I can tell - but certainly not all. I've met my fair share of people in the least likely places who seem absolutely heads and tails above me in overall maturity and politeness.
If *I* were to be in charge of handing out licenses, who is to say I wouldn't, for example, only hand out licenses to those over 25 years of age, believing that anyone 24 and under should be focusing on gaining some wisdom and life experience before they go posting to the internet?
I might believe this or I might not, but why should I get to make the call for other people?
Nah, leave the internet the vast un-licensed wilderness that it is. I think it's a great place and I for one am not willing to trade my freedom for security. We take precautions when we get online, we make adult choices about what we spend time looking at; and for Pete's sake - don't go following inane links that are likely to upset you. If you know somebody is a jerk from a post they make about, say, another country going through a disaster - avoid them.
Just as you would avoid jerks in real life. I mean, one might as well require a "license to leave your home" because some people in real life are jerks. There are bars in this city where you can basically go to on any night and get into a drunken brawl if you want - and there are other establishments where you can go for a quiet beer or dinner out where fighting almost never happens.
Just like on the internet.
