Marty Rimm
Encyclopedia
Martin Rimm gained notoriety in 1995 while an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University
. He wrote an article published in The Georgetown Law Journal titled "Marketing Pornography
on the Information Superhighway: A Survey of 917,410 Images, Description, Short Stories and Animations Downloaded 8.5 Million Times by Consumers in Over 2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces and Territories." http://web.archive.org/web/20010616211728/http://trfn.pgh.pa.us/guest/mrstudy.html
Prior to the publication of Rimm's research, Philip Elmer-DeWitt
used it in his Time Magazine article, "On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn." http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/time_cyberporn.articles The story highlighted a particular conclusion claimed by Rimm that (as of 1995) 83.5% of the images on Usenet
newsgroups where images were stored were pornographic in nature. Rimm's findings were quickly attacked by civil libertarians who insisted that they were seriously flawed.http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/journoporn_godwin.article Rimm's research was cited during a session of U.S. Congress. Senator Charles Grassley, introduced S. 892, the Protection of Children from Computer Pornography Act of 1995. As key evidence for the need for his bill, the senator is on record misinterpreting Rimm's data to mean that "83.5 percent of all computerized photographs available on the Internet are pornographic." http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/cda/grassley-congressional-record.html
A detailed account of this episode can be read on "Fighting a Cyberporn Panic", chapter 9 of Mike Godwin
's book, Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age (Revised and Updated Edition, MIT Press, 2003).
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. He wrote an article published in The Georgetown Law Journal titled "Marketing Pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
on the Information Superhighway: A Survey of 917,410 Images, Description, Short Stories and Animations Downloaded 8.5 Million Times by Consumers in Over 2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces and Territories." http://web.archive.org/web/20010616211728/http://trfn.pgh.pa.us/guest/mrstudy.html
Prior to the publication of Rimm's research, Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt is an American writer and editor. He was Time 's first computer writer—producing much of the magazine's early coverage of personal computers and the Internet -- and for 12 years its science editor. He is currently a contributor to Fortune magazine, which publishes his online...
used it in his Time Magazine article, "On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn." http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/time_cyberporn.articles The story highlighted a particular conclusion claimed by Rimm that (as of 1995) 83.5% of the images on Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsgroups where images were stored were pornographic in nature. Rimm's findings were quickly attacked by civil libertarians who insisted that they were seriously flawed.http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/journoporn_godwin.article Rimm's research was cited during a session of U.S. Congress. Senator Charles Grassley, introduced S. 892, the Protection of Children from Computer Pornography Act of 1995. As key evidence for the need for his bill, the senator is on record misinterpreting Rimm's data to mean that "83.5 percent of all computerized photographs available on the Internet are pornographic." http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/cda/grassley-congressional-record.html
A detailed account of this episode can be read on "Fighting a Cyberporn Panic", chapter 9 of Mike Godwin
Mike Godwin
Michael Wayne Godwin is an American attorney and author. He was the first staff counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation , and the creator of the Internet adage Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies. From July 2007 to October 2010, he was general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation...
's book, Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age (Revised and Updated Edition, MIT Press, 2003).
External links
- Cyberporn Fear Storm
- The Rimm Factor by Brock Meeks
- Hoffman and Novak's Analysis
- http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Rimm_CMU_Time/elmer-dewitt_time.interviewHotwired interviews Philip Elmer-DeWittPhilip Elmer-DeWittPhilip Elmer-DeWitt is an American writer and editor. He was Time 's first computer writer—producing much of the magazine's early coverage of personal computers and the Internet -- and for 12 years its science editor. He is currently a contributor to Fortune magazine, which publishes his online...
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