Free Essays on Internet Censorship

Internet Censorship The debate over whether the government should censor the Internet is intense. In 1995 the senate passed the Communications Decency Act written by Senator Jim Exon. The act â€Å"outlaws ‘obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent’ communications on the Internet,† (Exon 130). Americans on both sides of the issue are asking some very pertinent, yet difficult to answer, questions. Does censorship of the Internet violate our First Amendment rights? Is regulation of the Internet even possible? Will censoring the Internet protect children from inappropriate material or will it hinder those searching for legitimate information? As a mother, I am concerned about my child having access to pornographic or otherwise inappropriate material on the Internet. However, my personal belief is that it is impossible to regulate the Internet without infringing on the liberties of the First Amendment. Simply put: one person’s definition of inappropriate or pornographic material may be totally different from another’s. It must be made clear that although I am neither totally for nor against censorship, I do not wish to have a limit set on what I can and cannot access determined by someone else’s values. Those who support censorship of Internet materials feel that applying obscenity laws to the internet will protect children from pornography without â€Å"significantly† infringing upon our First Amendment rights (Exon 125). Supporters of this view argue that we live with restrictions on our freedom of speech everyday, such as: libel laws and laws against false advertising. These people submit that the â€Å"anti-pornography laws that exist for U.S. mail, broadcast and telephone communications,† should also apply to computers (Exon 126). These people suggest the use of blocking software in libraries and support the required use of â€Å"a verified credit card, debit account, adult access code or personal identification number... Free Essays on Internet Censorship Free Essays on Internet Censorship Thesis: Government Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship. Introduction I. In the Internet community, there is a large volume of technical terms. For this reason, it is first necessary to examine the terminology specific to Internet. 1.The internet is a world wide computer network. 1.Electronic mail (email), which is one component of the Internet, approximates person to person letters, memoranda, notes and even phone calls. 2.Another term that is often used is electronic news (enews/Usenet), enews is a broadcast, free to the Internet medium. 3.The term FTP is also frequently used. File transfer protocol (FTP) started as an Internet archival and retrieval medium, somewhat analogous to traditional libraries. 4.The world-wide web (WWW), which is another component of the Net, can be used to "publish" material that would traditionally appear in journals, magazines, posters, books, television and even on film. 2.It is also essential to give a brief history on the internet. 3.The U.S. government is now trying to pass bills to prevent misuse of the Net. II. In order to understand the need for the ever-growing body of legislation, it is important to explore the controversy, and the current problems involved with the Net as it exists must be introduced. 1.The problem that concerns most people is offensive materials such as pornography. 2.Another crucial internet crime is the stealing of credit card numbers. III. One reaction to this inapplicability has been the "Censor the Net" approach (the censorship bill), we are now to compare its advantages and disadvantages. 1.First, the meaning of "Censoring the Net" must be explained. 2.However, many experts have pointed out that government censorship is not possible. 1.First, it is not fair to exclude the freedom and damage the atmosphere of... Free Essays on Internet Censorship Freedom of Speech: Censorship of the Internet Many of use it daily. We find it useful, and it has become part of our everyday lives. â€Å"It† is the Internet. The Internet has dramatically changed our society. It brings together people and their ideas from all around the world in a short amount of time. It is expanding daily to allow new ideas and thought s to be transmitted quickly and easily with the single click of a button. One can find information on almost any subject there. Yet many people are trying to censor it. The Internet is accessed by millions of people around the world each day. If the Internet is to considered a global resource it must remain uncensored. Is Internet Censorship Needed? Internet censorship seems to be the target of many debates nowadays in the U.S. due to the rising popularity of the Internet and the large amounts of pornography, warez, illegal drugs, and general threats to society. It is a very hard subject to handle, after all no individual is in charge of the internet, and in fact no one really owns it except perhaps the â€Å"millions of people throughout the world who contribute to it in various ways† (Burton). The argument for censorship has been going on for at least 5 years now and no one sees an answer being had anytime soon. Getting rid of all the offensive content on the Internet would perhaps make it more productive but is it legal to stifle the rights of others like that? The government thought so at one point and tried to pass a law to help filter the Internet only to have it found unconstitutional soon after To understand why the Internet is subject to such a controversial debate, we must first learn what it is and what it contains. The Internet is a method of communication and a source of information that is becoming more popular among those who are interested in, and have the time to surf the information superhighway. The Internet has been in universal use for many years. It... Free Essays on Internet Censorship Internet Censorship The debate over whether the government should censor the Internet is intense. In 1995 the senate passed the Communications Decency Act written by Senator Jim Exon. The act â€Å"outlaws ‘obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent’ communications on the Internet,† (Exon 130). Americans on both sides of the issue are asking some very pertinent, yet difficult to answer, questions. Does censorship of the Internet violate our First Amendment rights? Is regulation of the Internet even possible? Will censoring the Internet protect children from inappropriate material or will it hinder those searching for legitimate information? As a mother, I am concerned about my child having access to pornographic or otherwise inappropriate material on the Internet. However, my personal belief is that it is impossible to regulate the Internet without infringing on the liberties of the First Amendment. Simply put: one person’s definition of inappropriate or pornographic material may be totally different from another’s. It must be made clear that although I am neither totally for nor against censorship, I do not wish to have a limit set on what I can and cannot access determined by someone else’s values. Those who support censorship of Internet materials feel that applying obscenity laws to the internet will protect children from pornography without â€Å"significantly† infringing upon our First Amendment rights (Exon 125). Supporters of this view argue that we live with restrictions on our freedom of speech everyday, such as: libel laws and laws against false advertising. These people submit that the â€Å"anti-pornography laws that exist for U.S. mail, broadcast and telephone communications,† should also apply to computers (Exon 126). These people suggest the use of blocking software in libraries and support the required use of â€Å"a verified credit card, debit account, adult access code or personal identification number... Free Essays on Internet Censorship The Internet is a wonderful place of entertainment and education but like all places used by millions of people, it has some murky corners people would prefer children not to explore. In the physical world society as a whole conspires to protect children, but there are no social or physical constraints to Internet surfing. The Internet Censorship Bill of 1995, also known as the Exon/Coats Communications Decency Act, has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. It would make it a criminal offense to make available to children anything that is indecent, or to send anything indecent with "intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass" ("Stop the Communications ..." n.p.). The goal of this bill as written (though not as stated by its proponents) is to try to make all public discourse on the Internet suitable for young children. The issue of whether is it necessary to have censorship on the Internet is being argued all over the world. There are numerous homepages on the World Wide Web discussing this issue, or asking people to sign the petition to stop government censorship. The Internet was originally a place for people to freely express their ideas worldwide. It is also one of America's most valuable types of technology; scientists use email for quick and easy communication. They post their current scientific discoveries on the Usenet newsgroups so other scientists in the same field of study all over the world can know in minutes. Ordinary people use the Net for communication, expressing their opinions in the newsgroups, obtaining up-to-date information from the WWW, acquiring files by using FTP, etc. Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship. In the Internet community, there is a large volume of technical terms. For this reason, it is first necessary to examine the terminology specific to Internet. The Internet is a world wide computer net...