Thanks for correcting the mistake in the parent comment. For the uninitiated: as a simplification things you can do fall into three categories: halal (you can d

Thanks for correcting the mistake in the parent comment. For the uninitiated: as a simplification things you can do fall into three categories: halal (you can do it and it's a good thing), makruh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makruh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makruh, مكروه) (smt that's not a clear sin but should best be avoided), and haram (you shouldn't do it, it's sin), these all have subclasses and it's complicated, so this is a rough guide. The non-Muslim population generally encounters only the food aspect of this distinction, due to notices on restaurants and food items. Now, many (orthodox) Muslims would consider lusting after women who are not your wife (or wives where that applies) as haram, and see the Internet as a thing that facilitates this. This is not a new thing, e.g. the Internet is heavily filtered in Saudi Arabia. You can't subscribe to, say, Playboy from that country or have it sent to you, because they check the mail items. Now, whether all this makes sense in year 2012 is another question.