Nobody polices the internet, which means that it’s a cesspool, full of porn, scams and flagrant copyright violations.

I can’t let my kids have unfiltered access, and even “filtered” access is very questionable.

For some odd reason the Internet lives in a world apart. It’s okay to have laws that regulate the sale and positioning of Playboy magazine, but anybody can create a web page with garbage that would shock Hugh Hefner, and the suggestion that it should be regulated is met with scorn and derision.

We hear things like, “If parents don’t want that in their house, they should monitor their kids’ internet use.”

Yeah, right. And if parents don’t want their kids to smoke, they shoud follow them around all the time, so there’s no need for age restrictions on sales. And if parents don’t want their kids to drink, or drive cars, or take prescription drugs, or …. You get the point.

Where did we get the idea that the Internet is subject to completely different rules than everything else in life? It’s crazy. Somewhere along the way, libertarian geeks have staked their claim, and everybody else has just gone along.

It’s time to create a new internet with on an entirely different protocol. Rather than http://, we need safe://.

This would allow the wild-west libertarian geeks to keep their porn on http. Nobody would be “sensored.” But it would allow responsible people who believe in decency and property rights to have something they can allow in the home.

Anyone who wanted to participate in the safe protocol would need to follow certain rules related to content, copyright and security.

The wild-west radicals have won the battle for the internet. Fine. Let them have it. But it’s time for a new, responsible internet that is designed by grown ups.