Archive for Focus On The Family

American Airlines To Install Porn Filters….. Focus On The Family Does Backflips Of Joy

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on October 17, 2008 by itnerd

After being the only airline that had the balls to not install porn filters on their in-flight Internet access, American Airlines folded up like cheap suits changed their minds and decided to install porn filters after all. Why you ask? Here’s their reasoning:

American said Tuesday it was working with technology provider Aircell to allow filtering of its nascent Internet service. American, the nation’s largest carrier, said it hasn’t gotten reports of passengers viewing “inappropriate content” on the Gogo in-flight service but said filtering was “an appropriate measure to take.”

Right. Sure. Whatever. Thanks for the spin.

I think the real reason is that the pressure that right wing zealots group Focus On The Family put on American Airlines was too much for them to bear. But that would just be speculation of course. Even if they are the sole reason behind this, you can be sure that they were a factor in American Airlines decision making process.

Air Canada To Get In Flight WiFi… Are They The Next Target Of Focus On The Family?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on September 10, 2008 by itnerd

Aircell who supplies American Airlines with their inflight Wi Fi has inked a deal with Air Canada to supply them with in flight WiFi:

“The Gogo system on Air Canada’s trans-border routes will be available first in the U.S. and powered by Aircell’s existing U.S. network, making Air Canada’s initial rollout fast, economical and simple. Air Canada and Aircell expect that the Gogo service will eventually provide passengers with seamless coverage from key Air Canada cities such as Montreal and Toronto to every Air Canada market in the continental U.S. Additionally, Aircell looks forward to the licensing and roll out of a Canadian Air-to-Ground network that will facilitate Air Canada’s future fleet-wide deployment.”

Since it’s the same provider as American Airlines, one could assume that there’s going to be no porn filters on Air Canada flights either. There’s nothing in the press release that indicates if that is that is the case or not. The question is if there are no porn filters present, will that draw the ire of the Canadian wing of Focus On The Family? You’ll recall that their American counterparts went loco when they found out that porn was not going to be filtered on American Airlines. So don’t be shocked if the Canadian arm does the same thing. You can expect me to post my thoughts on that as well.

Religious Group Urges People To Complain About Unfiltered Net Access On Planes….WTF?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on August 29, 2008 by itnerd

From the “are you kidding me” file comes this story. American religious group Focus On The Family has put up this post urging people to bully encourage American Airlines to install filters for their on-board Internet access so that you can’t surf for porn while you fly:

An American Airlines spokesman said flight attendants will be trained to handle the situation if a passenger is viewing porn.

Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality at Focus on the Family Action, called the decision another example of pornography running amok.

“Because this nation has not been serious about vigorously attacking pornography, some believe it is appropriate to view in public,” he said. “Not only will the flight attendants be placed in a situation that could be considered sexual harassment, passengers who openly view porn where children can see it may be violating federal harmful-to-minor laws.”

Here’s a news flash dude: Nobody is that dumb!

Most individuals know how to behave in public. Those who don’t will get smacked around and they would totally deserve it. We don’t need filters (that don’t actually work properly and often filter out useful content) to do this for us. Besides, who appointed you the guardians of our moral standards?

Fortunately American Airlines isn’t as stupid as they are has seen the light and as noted above they will leave it to flight attendants to deal with any situation that arises (one would think that if an Air Marshall is on board, s/he would get involved as well). That’s the way it should be in a country like America.

Besides, if you want to live in a country that has filtered Internet access that keeps porn out, I hear China has a system for that which works well enough. Perhaps you guys should set up shop there. I’m sure you’d be happy living in that sort of environment.