Date sent:        Sun, 12 May 1996 02:03:58 -0700

Name: censora.txt
Uploader: Tom Bell
Email: bbell@omni.voicenet.com
Language: English
Subject: Social Stuides/English
Title: Censoring The Internet
Grade: 86%
System: grade 9
Age: 14
Country: USA
Comments: it's good :)
Date: March 20, 1996




Censoring The Internet

 Should the Internet be censored?  Many people think so.  There is a 
lot of talking and arguing over, should the Internet be censored?  Many 
people who sign on-line and use the Internet are furious about the censoring.  Most of the
users feel that it is denying the first amendment rights of free speech, and is
unconstitutional (CDT Policy Post 1).  But parents, Congress, and the legislature feel that
minors are getting indecent and illegal material  (CDT Policy Post 1).
 Bill Clinton signed a decency act which has new regulated laws for 
the Internet.  The house past a vote 414-16 and the senate voted 91-5 for 
the act (CDT Policy Post 1).The decency act states, "it will impose a 
$250,000 fine and prison terms for anyone who posts indecent material, 
including the "7 dirty words", the text of classic works such as The Catcher
 in the Rye or Ulysses, artwork containing images of nudes, or rap lyrics, 
in a public forum (CDT Policy Post 1).
 On December 12th, it was the Internet's Day of Protest (VTW 1).  
Once the Internet users found out that it may be censored they went ballistic
.  They got the number of the Congressional staff members and left their 
thoughts in messages and e-mail  (VTW).  There was well over 50,0000 phone 
calls, faxes in one day  (VTW 1) .   At Senator Exon's office the fax 
machines were backed up because he was the one who initially pushed forward 
to censor the Internet  (VTW 1).  The Internet users are saying it's free 
speech (Dickerson) 1.  "Free speech, even indecent speech, is guaranteed by 
the First Amendment"  (Dickerson 1).   The right of Americans to say and 
write what they please, in whatever way they please, has been affirmed by a
 long series of judicial decisions (Dickerson 1).  This protest shows how 
strongly  people who use the Internet feel.  They feel that any censorship of the Internet
is a violation of their 1st Amendment rights.  The first amendment states that ..Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
(Constitution: Article 1 ).  One group the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) has
realized a statement that clearly shows this side of the argument.  "We [CDT] believe the
bill threatens the very existence of the Internet as a means for free expression, education,
and political discourse.  The bill [Indecency Bill] is an unwarranted, unconstitutional
intrusion by the Federal Government into the private lives of all Americans (CDT Policy Post
1).  This is a very strong argument and the CDT along with many other Internet groups plan
to fight for their rights in the courts.

 While these Internet groups have some good points, the other side of
 the issue is also very important.  There is much unsuitable information on 
the Internet that younger users can get there.  For example, they can get 
how to grow marijuana, how to sell it, where to buy it, how to increase it's
 potency.  Young people can also get a lot of pornography and cyberporn.  
This is why there are so many parents, teachers and adults complaining about 
the easy access to the pornography  (Elmer-Dewiti 1).   
 US Senator, Nebraska Democrat, James Exon is the real person who 
wants to put cyberporn away (Elmer-Dewiti 2) .    He is the main problem for
 the Internet (Levy 1).  He collected images from the Internet and compiled 
a "blue book" and persuaded the Senate to pass his Communications Decency Act
  (Levy 1).    He focused attention on the availability of inappropriate 
material to many youths who use computers.  The reason this "cyberporn" is 
circulating the Internet so easily is because it is immensely popular  
(Elmer-Dewiti 2).    People trade sexually explicit imagery all over  the 
Internet (Elmer Dewiti 2).  There are sites that you can go to on the 
Internet known as BBS.  Here you pay a fee with a credit card and then you 
have access to the material  they have. You can then preview the material 
and then download it to your computer for viewing.  The problem is serious 
because this Cyberporn it's not just a naked lady, they also have pedophilia
 (nude photos of children) hebephilia (youths) and what the researchers call
 paraphilia - a grab bag of "deviant" material that includes images of bondage,
 sadomasochism, urination, defection, and sex acts with a barnyard full of animals  (Elmer
 Demiti 2).  Obviously, this has raised a great deal of concern about this type 
of material.  Many parents and teachers are very concerned.  All a person 
has to do to get this information is to talk to someone on-line and download
 it from them or any  remote site on the Internet.  That is why so minors may have access to
 it.  Prior to this law there were few regulations and penalties in place for people who
 allowed children access to this information.  Now, if a person is a minor and a person gave
 him these photographs this person can get a $200,000 dollar fine and up to two years of
 imprisonment.  Younger viewers also get very dangerous information.  The minors can
 download a whole novel on how to make firearms, different kinds of bombs.  
For example, match bombs, pepper bombs, pipe bombs etc.  And it tells you 
step by step on how to make them.  From this there have been many cases in 
which kids have been dying and getting severely hurt by misuse of the 
product. While many sites use devices such as: Login names and addresses,
 passwords, and special software still may be vulnerable to this type of 
information.   Because of this, parents, and teachers are distressed.  
 The Congress and Legislature are really studying the Internet 
closely.   The courts have not yet ruled on whether the Internet is a print 
medium like a newspaper, protected from government censorship, or a broadcast
 medium like TV, whose content is closely regulated by the Federal 
Communications Commission, (Dickenson 1).
 A person can receive a great deal of useful information on the net.  
People who sign on-line can receive magazine articles, world wide news, 
local news, nation news, weather, meet new people, get political information 
and reports and essays.  People should be allowed to talk, download, do 
anything they want because of the First Amendment.  The Federal Government 
can't violate it!  A person has a right to do anything he wishes on-line 
because this is America, as long as it is not harmful to others.  Parents 
may not want their children looking at that and they may be too young and 
that's okay.  But the parents should monitor their children and their use of
 the computer and should not make everyone else suffer because they're not 
allowed on that part of the Internet.  Children could be protected from 
inappropriate material in other ways. There is currently software that can 
limit access to these types of materials such as passwords or specific hours
 in order to keep them away from pornographic material.      
