US morals conquer porno Respekt

On the two-hour cruise from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to Nantucket Island, where we take a week-long holiday twice a year, I switch on my laptop, using the ferry's free WiFi connection. I automatically click agreement with the conditions, check my e-mail and went to the Respekt blog page. To my astonishment, the monitor displays a window warning me that access to the site had been denied because Respekt is on a list of porn portals. This must be a mistake. I try respekt.cz and other options. The same. Access denied. The warning window generously offers me the option of appealing the ban, saying my request will be reviewed. I appeal. Worse luck. The final verdict is merciless. I am not mature enough to access the Respekt site in the US.

I thought this was fun for about five seconds, before I realised for the thousandth time that I spend most of the year living in a country where, until my final hour, I won't be considered grown-up and disciplined and responsible enough to go without an omnipresent supervisor guarding my moral spotlessness, claiming an unlimited right to filter the information I can have, even though I may need it for my work. And, of course, among other things, beeping over all vulgar words in the media. Since many sitcoms and reality shows on US commercial TV channels capitalise on the lowest human instincts, they often consist of a series of visual images accompanied by a series of infinite beeps. That's culture for you. The notion that…