As always it should be the parents making the decision as to what their children view, not a censor. I have seen real things on the Internet that are considerably worse than anything I’ve ever seen acted out in a movie, so this discussion should instead be about why parents allow their offspring to use the Internet without parental control. But then, I suppose if the pub is open or Big Brother is on at the time... Steve Lee, Gillingham
As a relative novice I have been shocked, and at my age little shocks me anymore, by the ease in which one can get offensive material when seeking real information. Thomas Garnell, Peacehaven
The usual nonsense from the British chattering classes dream world. I clearly remember Virginia Bottomley when she was a minister explaining how she was going to stop porn over the net. You have to be the last country in the world putting out this rubbish. Just learn to grow up, improve your education system (one of the worst in the developed word) and learn live with it. Victor Cowan, Malaga, Spain
A nice idea to extent the BBFC’s remit (and presumably its revenue streams) but one entirely impractical, given that access to the web is world wide, and not primarily home based. And while “classification” is indeed separate from “censorship” the two have often been uncomfortably linked (more so in the days of the heavy handed and censorious regime of James Ferman). It would be a better idea for us to have adopted the “XXX” rating suggested for all porn sites than offer this, rather more provincial, suggestion. And if anything, the BBFC would be better off considering its role in the future more realistically as the advent of downloads and easy DVD imports has made its efforts on behalf of the home audience increasingly irrelevant. Richard Bowden, London
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How would this work in practice? The BBFC say the scheme is voluntary - which probably means the vast majority of sites would ignore it. And presumably they would only be able to classify British sites which, given the international nature of the content of the web, would make the whole idea pretty useless (unless a worldwide standard classification was agreed upon - something for the distant future, perhaps?) Martin Wilkinson, Reading
It is no bad idea to give people an indication of the content of websites to allow them to protect their children. However, it is doomed to failure. If censorship of the web were possible, rest assured the government, interested as it is in controlling everything people do, would have done so already. As in most other areas of expertise, anyone with major talent in the area would never work for governments of any political hue. Governments’ insistence on having political apparatchiks of minimal ability and vision (look at todays government and opposition ministers)endlessly interfering in things they are incapable of understanding is totally destructive of technical advancement and so such departments will always lag behind the free-thinkers (in this case hackers and other ‘nerds’). Additionally, most children are far more conputer-savvy than their parents and will easily find a way to locate what they want however hard their parents try to prevent it - indeed, as with the old “X-rated” films of my youth, knowing it rates censorship will be an encouragement to the kids to hunt for it. Bob Finbow, Haverhill
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