Admit it; there is a majority of guys (and women, sometimes) who love porn. Well, if “love” came out as too harsh a word, how about “like” or “dabble in” watching occasional porn flicks? There is no harm in testing out your sexual preferences – at least not according to my perception. 

Anyhow, this report will come out as a shock to you because the European Union parliament members, as of March 12 – 2013, are passing a bill to entirely ban porn from media. It would mean that at least in Europe, you will not be able to watch, sell or resell porn movies on the internet, cable channels (if/any) and vice versa.

Yes, there will always be illegal sources, but at least on government level, porn will be strictly off limits. The main purpose of submitting this proposal was to put an end to sexualisation of girls and guys. The credit mostly goes to the left leaning parliamentarian: Kartika Liotard of Netherlands, who recommends a “permanent ban on all forms of pornography on European internet, media and public/ private viewing channels.”

The proposal also calls for mandating an imposition of effective sanctions on private contractors and companies that are responsible for marketing/ selling porn movies. From the “free speech” perspective, this proposal has slim chances of getting an approval. Critics are concerned about the report’s vague language.

According to Christian Engstrom of the EU Parliament, “The devil is in the detail. Although I completely agree that eliminating outdated gender stereotypes in the EU is a worthwhile goal, I will be voting against this resolution next week.”

There have been instances of politicians getting caught with evidence of watching porn movies on their iPads and personal devices. But we all know that such incidents are going to be there in one way or another. For the time being, the European ISPs, in response to this regulation, are saying:

The wording suggests that while Internet service providers may not be forced to comply with the principles of the report, it could give these companies ‘policing rights’ over their customers, similar to the ‘six-strike’ rule in the U.S. relating to online piracy.

The next week is going to conclude this debacle once and for all. Stay tuned.