The CP80 (Clean Port 80) Internet Channel Initiative is the brainchild of Ralph Yarro, Chairman of SCO Group and former president and CEO of The Canopy Group.
Yarro has reportedly poured millions of his own money into the proposal, which he says has several advantages over standard filtering technology and also protects First Amendment freedoms.
“Filters don’t cut it,” he told the Deseret News. “They don’t catch everything.”
According to Yarro, the Internet is made up of more than 65,000 ports that can be used to categorize content, but all content viewed on web browsers using http protocol comes through a single port: Port 80.
Yarro is proposing that all adult content should use one of the other available ports, thereby keeping Port 80 clear of any adult content. He said his group pick up the tab for whatever technical work is necessary to make it happen, allowing adult sites to migrate — and users to access the adult-free Port 80 — at no charge.
“There is a plentiful amount of channels out there,” Yarro said. “Why are we not taking adult content and assigning it to its own channel?”
Using those alternate channels, Yarro said, would preserve the freedom of those who publish adult content while making it easier for parents to restrict access to that content. And through ThinkAtomic, he has hired lobbyists to ask Congress to push legislation mandating that all adult content be broadcast on newly designated ports, so that users can opt-in to adults-only channels.
Ralph Thompson of International Business Catalysts already has met with several powerful congressional leaders, including Utah Republicans Orin Hatch and Bob Bennett, as well as with members of the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.
“The software and the hardware pieces are in place,” Thompson said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting the policy in place so that we can have some part of the Internet that is free of the filth and free of the degradation.” Specifically, Thompson is calling for fines and penalties for sites that broadcast adult material on Port 80.
While the means by which Yarro would achieve his goal are novel, the idea is strikingly similar to others that have come before it and been shot down, including proposals from several legislators in recent years to designate all adult sites under one domain, such as .porn.
The primary argument against such efforts has been that they would ghettoize adult content on the Internet, and it is likely that CP80 would meet with similar resistance.
Also, even if the CP80 Internet Channel Initiative were passed, there are currently no mechanisms in place to punish non-U.S. sites that don’t comply with U.S. laws, and although specific numbers are difficult to track down, a high percentage of the web’s estimated 4.2 million adult sites are hosted and operated outside the U.S.