In January 2007, Christmas Island Internet Administration put the domain goatse.cx back into the pool of available domains. The domain was then registered on January 16 through domain registrar Variomedia, and the current holder tried to auction off the right to use the domain.
The goatse.cx domain name was reported sold at an auction on April 30, 2007 to an unknown bidder. According to seobidding.com, the first auction ended with fake bids so the auction was reactivated. This was again won by fake bidders, so Seobidding.com announced that the website would be sold for $500,000 and that legal action would be pursued against the fake bidders. On November 25, 2007, the site was for sale on seobidding; "goatse.cx asking: $50200 minimum."
Control of the domain was moved to the another market, and was taken by domain squatters who were trying to sell the domain name for 10,000 euros.
On July 4, 2008, the site was open again, with a picture of Bill O'Reilly and a legal notice. The file name and text remained the same as before.
As of September 28, 2008, the site was again put up for sale, and the picture changed once again because of a legal order from Fox Broadcasting Company ordering the owner to stop showing a picture of Bill O'Reilly.
The site used the .cx country code, the top-level domain of the Australian territory of Christmas Island. The actual computer server of Goatse.cx was not on Christmas Island, but in the United States and was owned by Hick.org, a website about computer programming and bathroom humor. The Hick.org domain was registered by Matt Miller in Overland Park, Kansas. Both Goatse.cx and Hick.org originated from the same IP address; the server was in Kansas City, Missouri, metro-region. Goat.cx, formerly a mirror of Goatse.cx, was in the Dallas, Texas, metro-region, while current mirror Goatse.ru is in Russia.
Many Internet users have been tricked into looking at the site at one time or another, it has become something of an Internet meme. As such, hello.jpg and the other images on the site are common subjects of parodies and tributes.
After Hurricane Charley in August 2004, an image purporting to show "the hands of God" in the cloud formations in the aftermath of the disaster circulated in email. The image was proven to be a false Goatse parody.
In June 2007, a parody of the 2012 Summer Olympics logo sent by "Sean Stayte" appeared on the BBC News website under the alternative Olympic Logo entries and was broadcast on their BBC News 24 channel. Two hands were pulling the 0 from 2012 apart. The image was later shown as part of a gallery of viewers logos on BBC London News and BBC News 24, and was subsequently removed from the website. The editor of the BBC News website stated the mistake in his blog, saying his team "simply didn’t spot it".
There are at least four songs about Goatse, and also a band named Goatse.
Modesty
Modesty (also called demureness or reticence) is the term for certain norms of behaviour, clothing and habits a society expects from its people. Excessive modesty is sometimes called prudery.
Modesty usually includes:
Different fashion trends test the levels of modesty. People are usually also subjected to peer pressure.
Different levels of modesty apply in different situations, and to different groups of people.
Modesty is a social norm, it does not apply where it cannot, such as in an emergency. In the case of an emergency it is more important that doctors treat those that are wounded. It does not matter that doctors may see those people naked. In some cases, it may be necessary that they take off all the clothes, to be able to treat them better.
Some people still insist on maintaining their standards of modesty, even in an emergency situation.
Modesty usually says that the parts of the human body that do not need to be exposed should not be. Usually, this applies to bare skin, hair, undergarments, and especially to intimate parts. Sometimes, the standards do not only say that the respective part should be hidden, but also that special clothing should hide its shape, what it looks like. Certain standards say how the changing of clothes should be done, like using a towel on a beach or closing (and locking) a door of a cabin that is provided.
Different cultures have different standards of modesty. But standards are also different according to who the other people are, that could possibly see one's body:
Social standing or class can also matter. That way, different rules can apply to people of the same social class than to those of other (or lower) social classes.
Other things that influence these norms include:
That way, a teacher that would perform at a night club might be seen as "bringing the profession into disresapect". Some people say this kind of modesty is "body shame".
Too much modesty is called prudishness. As a medical condition it is also called gymnophobia. Excessive "immodesty" is called exhibitionism. Proponents of modesty often see it as respect for their bodies and the feelings of themselves and others, and some people believe it may reduce sexual crimes. Critics argue that it's not healthy to have a negative attitude toward the human body. Some assert that there may be a correlation between repressive body attitudes and undesirable outcomes such as sexual crimes, violence, and stress.
The cultural and religious background heavily influence the views a person has on modesty.
What is called Western culture expects that Intimate body parts are covered in public places at all times. There are exceptions for places where people change clothes, as these are usually differentiated by sex. This means there is one changing-room for men, and another for women. Other exceptions include saunas, which tend to be mixed-sex (there is one sauna for both men and women) places.
Special rules also apply for places where bathing is common. It might be tolerated that a woman is topless on a beach, or near a pool. If there is a restaurant near the beach or pool, it is usual, that the woman can be topless on the beach, but if she wants to eat something in the restaurant, that she has to cover her breasts. Very often, such restaurants are visually segregated by a railing. On one side of the railing there is the beach, on the other, there is the restaurant.
There are more and more beaches in cities. This blurs the boundary even more. There may be people in swimsuits next to businesspeople in a suit.
In private homes, the rules may be more relaxed. Nudity among close family members in the home is sometimes permitted, especially in the bedroom and bathroom. Wearing undergarments casually may be permitted as well. Elsewhere in the home, family members may be expected to wear more clothes, casually, especially if guests are present. A bathrobe may fulfill the purpose here.
Naturists have different views. They want to create an environment, were people can feel at ease, even when they are nude, they can be seen nude, or nude people are among them. These values conflict with the current standards of modesty. For this reason, nudists mostly reject the current standards of modesty.
Traditional indigenous cultures such as those in Africa, or the aborigines in Australia have social norms that vary greatly. How much exposure is acceptable varies from nothing for some women, to everything except the glans penis for some men of certain tribes. Certain African cultures think body painting is body coverage. Many think it is an "attire".
There are different standards of modesty for men and women. Western culture expects that both men and women keep their genitals covered. It also expects that women keep their breasts covered, most of the time. There may be exceptions for bathing, or breastfeeding.
Showing naked soldiers bathing became common during the Second World War. Boys in high-school age also swam in the nude, during that time.