POLL: Online Licensing—Yes or No?

After everything I’ve seen and dealt with online lately, I’ve started asking myself one big, fundamental question: should the internet be wide open to everyone, or should people have to pass some kind of psychological sanity check—maybe even a formal exam on digital etiquette—to earn what we could call an "internet permit" or a license to go online?

Think of it like getting a driver's license. Sure, anyone can walk out and buy a car or a high-end PC, but that doesn't mean they should be behind the wheel without knowing what they're doing. Not everyone gets to drive just because they own a vehicle. I'm just using that as an analogy to make my point.

Basically, if you want to get connected, you'd have to prove you passed the test and show that your "license" hasn't been suspended due to too many violations. 👍

What do you guys think? 🤷

Lmao, classic.

lonejackal9 said:Lmao, classic.

👍👍👍

Ronald Rogers27 said:After everything I’ve seen and dealt with online lately, I’ve started asking myself one big, fundamental question: should the internet be wide open to everyone, or should people have to pass some kind of psychological sanity check—maybe even a formal exam on digital etiquette—to earn what we could call an "internet permit" or a license to go online?

Think of it like getting a driver's license. Sure, anyone can walk out and buy a car or a high-end PC, but that doesn't mean they should be behind the wheel without knowing what they're doing. Not everyone gets to drive just because they own a vehicle. I'm just using that as an analogy to make my point.

Basically, if you want to get connected, you'd have to prove you passed the test and show that your "license" hasn't been suspended due to too many violations. 👍

What do you guys think? 🤷

I'm all for it. Great idea.
After all, if someone can pass a basic internet safety check, they might actually be qualified to run for President or, heaven forbid, raise a child.
👍👍👍

I’d honestly love to see this kind of logic applied to our voting process for Congress, and definitely for when we head to the polls to elect the President too.

Honestly, the concept itself isn't half bad. If implemented correctly, it could actually provide a way to keep online predators under control. It might even offer a genuine layer of protection for kids navigating the web, keeping them out of harm's way.

That said, we run into a massive hurdle: any such test would need to establish clear criteria. How exactly do you define "proper" behavior? Who gets to decide what constitutes acceptable conduct versus something else? It’s one of those ideas that sounds brilliant on paper—theoretically perfect, really—but when you look at the practical application, it seems almost impossible to pull off.

Even if an idea like that actually came to fruition, would it even make a dent in reducing pedophilia or anything of that nature?

Besides, anyone can claim they can administer some kind of psychological test, right? 🙄

Ronald Rogers27 said:After everything I’ve seen and dealt with online lately, I’ve started asking myself one big, fundamental question: should the internet be wide open to everyone, or should people have to pass some kind of psychological sanity check—maybe even a formal exam on digital etiquette—to earn what we could call an "internet permit" or a license to go online?

Think of it like getting a driver's license. Sure, anyone can walk out and buy a car or a high-end PC, but that doesn't mean they should be behind the wheel without knowing what they're doing. Not everyone gets to drive just because they own a vehicle. I'm just using that as an analogy to make my point.

Basically, if you want to get connected, you'd have to prove you passed the test and show that your "license" hasn't been suspended due to too many violations. 👍

What do you guys think? 🤷

A fundamental, systemic question indeed. 🤣 Careful now!

So, essentially, anyone seeking to connect would have to prove they've passed this evaluation and ensure their credentials haven't been revoked due to accumulated infractions. 👍

What are your thoughts? 🤷

It’s an interesting concept, certainly, but how on earth would one actually implement that in the real world? 🤷

Daniel Nguyen3 said:Even if an idea like that actually came to fruition, would it even make a dent in reducing pedophilia or anything of that nature?

Besides, anyone can claim they can administer some kind of psychological test, right? 🙄

True, but think about it this way: if every user had to register and use a password earned specifically by passing a verified test, it would create a digital paper trail. It would make it much easier to track down people who use the internet to post illicit or predatory content. It’s about accountability.

And don't even get me started on how every single Google search that hits on anything remotely "adult" now demands you cough up your credit card info just so they can verify you aren't a minor...

🙄

Come on, everyone, let’s just head outside and actually play instead of overthinking things with these ridiculous ideas😬

Daniel Nguyen3 said:Even if an idea like that actually came to fruition, would it even make a dent in reducing pedophilia or anything of that nature?

Besides, anyone can claim they can administer some kind of psychological test, right? 🙄

I always seem to score pretty high on those things, I guess.🤣

Maybe the idea isn't actually bad, just totally impossible to pull off, but no, I'm not really feeling it

slypuma17 said:A fundamental, systemic question indeed. 🤣 Careful now!

So, essentially, anyone seeking to connect would have to prove they've passed this evaluation and ensure their credentials haven't been revoked due to accumulated infractions. 👍

What are your thoughts? 🤷

It’s an interesting concept, certainly, but how on earth would one actually implement that in the real world? 🤷

Look, I know the idea isn't bad, but I haven't really thought through the execution. It seems like a lot of you are hung up on the logistics. Most people seem to be on board with the concept, at least from what I can tell. 👍

I honestly have no clue how this works from a practical standpoint. At the end of the day, it all comes down to money. Whoever figures out a way to monetize this method is going to build the best version of it. The Catch-22 is that getting online wouldn't actually get any cheaper, so the Internet wouldn't become this thing accessible to everyone struggling to make ends meet. 🤷

(The Internet is basically a modern virtual Colosseum where mental gladiators clash... "Bread and Arcade games") 😬

Ronald Rogers27

Roger Morgan4 said:Honestly, the concept itself isn't half bad. If implemented correctly, it could actually provide a way to keep online predators under control. It might even offer a genuine layer of protection for kids navigating the web, keeping them out of harm's way.

That said, we run into a massive hurdle: any such test would need to establish clear criteria. How exactly do you define "proper" behavior? Who gets to decide what constitutes acceptable conduct versus something else? It’s one of those ideas that sounds brilliant on paper—theoretically perfect, really—but when you look at the practical application, it seems almost impossible to pull off.

...not...

Besides, people, everyone has an IP address. Once things go south, they just track your IP and boom—you're done.

Ronald Rogers27 said:Look, I know the idea isn't bad, but I haven't really thought through the execution. It seems like a lot of you are hung up on the logistics. Most people seem to be on board with the concept, at least from what I can tell. 👍

I honestly have no clue how this works from a practical standpoint. At the end of the day, it all comes down to money. Whoever figures out a way to monetize this method is going to build the best version of it. The Catch-22 is that getting online wouldn't actually get any cheaper, so the Internet wouldn't become this thing accessible to everyone struggling to make ends meet. 🤷

(The Internet is basically a modern virtual Colosseum where mental gladiators clash... "Bread and Arcade games") 😬

Ronald Rogers27

I’m sorry, but you’re being a total fascist. 😁
If I had my way, we’d just cut off internet access to the lower class via an expedited administrative process.

Wicked, truly wicked, John Doe. 🙂

Keep this up tomorrow, and we might as well just shut down the whole forum since 90% of you will be gone anyway. 🙄

😁

redmarlin3 said:Keep this up tomorrow, and we might as well just shut down the whole forum since 90% of you will be gone anyway. 🙄

😁

90%? You mean 99%, right? 🙂

Ronald Rogers27

Way to go, Ronald Rogers27. Honestly, this kind of stuff isn't for everyone.👍
To me, it’s just like real life, or dealing with a bad neighborhood... once the masks slip, people resort to these shady, underhanded tactics to discredit anyone they can't beat with actual logic. Just because someone holds a different opinion, they try to tear them down instead of winning the argument.

The internet is a mess, and these modern digital tablets aren't helping either. They just strip away any actual human connection in our social lives...