Are American citizens really so neurotically uptight about deviant sexual behavior that we will allow our entire information infrastructure to be dictated by the existence of pedophiles? Are pedophiles that precious and important to us? Do the NSA and the FBI really believe that they can hide the structure of a telephone switch under a layer of camouflage called “child pornography”? Are we supposed to flinch so violently at the specter of child abuse that we somehow miss the fact that they’re installing a Sony Walkman jack in our phones?
Predictor: Sterling, Bruce
Prediction, in context:A 1994 article in Wired magazine contains the body of Bruce Sterling’s concluding speech at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference IV in Chicago, March 26, 1994. Sterling says: ”Let me blow away some of the smoke and mirrors first, more for my own satisfaction than for the purpose of enlightening you people any. With your indulgence. First, the kidporn thing. I am sick and tired of hearing this specious blackwash. Are American citizens really so neurotically uptight about deviant sexual behavior that we will allow our entire information infrastructure to be dictated by the existence of pedophiles? Are pedophiles that precious and important to us? Do the NSA and the FBI really believe that they can hide the structure of a telephone switch under a layer of camouflage called ‘child pornography’? Are we supposed to flinch so violently at the specter of child abuse that we somehow miss the fact that they’re installing a Sony Walkman jack in our phones?”
Biography:Bruce Sterling, a writer, consultant and science fiction enthusiast, wrote or co-wrote “Schismatrix,” “The Hacker Crackdown” and “The Difference Engine” and edited “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology.” In the 1990s, he wrote tech articles for Fortune, Harper’s, Details, Whole Earth Review and Wired, where he was a contributing writer from its founding. He published the nonfiction book “Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years” in 2002. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: March 26, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Pornography
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: So, People, We Have a Fight on Our Hands
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.07/sterling.cfp_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney