an open memo to andy burnham

In the spirit of the previous James Purnell-related rant, but maybe with a cause readers can really get behind:

Dear Mr Burnham,

You are a moron for thinking age ratings on the internet are actually an option.

I'm not even going to start on the huge number of reasons why; but I shall pick this (kinder) one (and then make it crudely): I was a teenager not very long ago. Like all teenage boys, (sorry girls, even the nice ones) I surfed for free porn. When confronted with a time-wasting screen with "You must be over 18 to view this site", I OF COURSE, without HESITATING, always clicked the the one that would redirect me to Google rather than showing me the moneyshot.

Do you think underage boys stumble on porn accidentally? Do you think they are surfing for free, legal, DRM-compatible tunes to they can go bopping with their mates, drinking fanta orange and laughing at age-appropriate comedy before their ten p.m. bed-time? Of course you don't. And if you do, why did you even get elected?

The saddest thing is, which particular constituents do you believe will actually agree with your proposals, other than those who know as little about the issues involved as you do?

The most preposterous part of the whole affair is that age ratings would probably make it even easier to find exactly what boys are looking for. Heck, maybe new, underrated porn will even be uncovered that was previously missed because it was so far down the google scale.

But don't take my condemnation of your OAP-pandering as a one-off. Here's many, many pages of similar comments compiled by the crazy, leftist, liberal wackos of the British Broadcasting Corporation...

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