If we ban websites for offensive material, book burning will not be far behind. To reiterate what Bob said, the bad thing is also the good thing about the internet, you can say any thing you want as long as you don't personally slander or threaten an individual.

Bob - thanks for the reasoned response to an unreasonable question (as usual).

Offended - think about it for a minute. Do you really want to limit the public discourse (the internet) to only those things that you believe is true or that you agree with? Is your point of view the only one that matters? If a site that said something that was untrue were banned, we'd have to do without most of our political rhetoric, wouldn't we? Remember that truth is in many cases not so easy to define.

Lighten up!

Perhaps you can write Sen. Ted Stevens and ask him for an investigation that may lead to a tubal ligation of that domain.

Dear Bob: I am offended by silly people everywhere. Is there any way to get _them_ banned from the Internet?

Perhaps there is one additional option. With the Internet, you have in effect a right of reply. Post your own Web site.

You can say what you want to say, short of the legal restrictions Bob has already mentioned.

This isn't an entirely straightforward decision. If the site you object to is obscure, by referring to it directly, you may attract more attention to it and their message. Even just in rebuttal.

Most people and organizations choose to go the positive route. That tends to draw the most traffic and attention.

"It has been said that a million monkeys pounding on a million keyboards will eventually produce the works of William Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

There are lots of web sites that offend me. The best strategy has already been suggested: don't visit them.

Not to mention that, the first two W's in "www..." are "World Wide"

How will you ban THAT? Lots of countries 'round the world are on the web but don't particularly respect U.S. laws or opinions...

But honestly, this question really smacks of trollery; the naivte just doesn't ring true for an InfoWorld reader! Now, were this early April instead of mid-November...

As they say... "HTH. YHBT."

- Steve

Dear Offended,

I can only make assumptions of what the offending website is and what its contents discuss. You truly only have one recourse in action. You cannot change ignorant people, you can only educate them. You must show them that it is ok to be different and have different ideas and even lifestyles. But before you can do that, you must learn that lesson as well. The website you mention is not the only entity displaying intolerance here.

Ok, am I the only one dieing to know the URL for that site? ;-)