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Internet Regulation: Policing Cyberspace
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 problem with this much
information being accessible to this many people is that some of it is
deemed inappropriate for minors. The government wants censorship, but a
segment of the population does not. Legislative regulation of the Internet
would be an appropriate function of the government.
The Communications Decency Act is an amendment which prevents the
information superhighway from becoming a computer "red light district." On
June 14, 1995, by a vote of 84-16, the United States Senate passed the
amendment. It is now being brought through the House of Representatives.1
The Internet is owned and operated by the government, which gives them the
obligation to restrict the materials available through it. Though it
appears to have sprung up overnight, the inspiration of free-spirited
hackers, it in fact was born in Defense Department Cold War projects of the
1950s.2 The United States Government owns the Internet and has the
responsibility to determine who uses it and how it is used. The government
must control what information is accessible from its agencies.
This material is not lawfully available through the mail or over the
telephone, there is no valid reason these perverts should be allowed
unimpeded on the Internet. Since our initiative, the industry has
commendably advanced some blocking devices, but they are not a substitute
for well-reasoned law.4 Because the Internet has become one of the biggest
sources of information in this world, legislative safeguards are
imperative.
The government gives citizens the privilege of using the Internet, but it
has never given them the right to use it.
They seem to rationalize that the framers of the constitution planned &
plotted at great length to make certain that above all else, the
profiteering pornographer, the pervert and the pedophile must be free to
practice their pursuits in the presence of children on a taxpayer created
and subsidized computer network.3 People like this are the ones in the
wrong. Taxpayer's dollars are being spent bringing obscene text and
graphics into the homes of people all over the world.
The government must take control to prevent pornographers from using the
Internet however they see fit because they are breaking laws that have
existed for years. Cyberpunks, those most popularly associated with the
Internet, are members of a rebellious society that are polluting these
networks with information containing pornography, racism, and other forms
of explicit information.
When they start rooting around for a crime, new cybercops are entering a
pretty unfriendly environment. Cyberspace, especially the Internet, is
full of those who embrace a frontier culture that is hostile to authority
and fearful that any intrusions of police or government will destroy their
self-regulating world.5 The self-regulating environment desired by the
cyberpunks is an opportunity to do whatever they want. The Communications
Decency Act is an attempt on part of the government to control their "free
attitude" displayed in homepages such as "Sex, Adult Pictures, X-Rated
Porn", "Hot Sleazy Pictures (Cum again + again)" and "sex, sex, sex. heck,
it's better even better than real sex"6. "What we are doing is simply
making the same laws, held constitutional time and time again by the courts
with regard to obscenity and indecency through the mail and telephones,
applicable to the Internet."7 To keep these kinds of pictures off home
computers, the government must control information on the Internet, just as
it controls obscenity through the mail or on the phone.
Legislative regulations must be made to control information on the Internet
because the displaying or distribution of obscene material is illegal.
The courts have generally held that obscenity is illegal under all
circumstances for all ages, while "indecency" is generally allowable to
adults, but that laws protecting children from this "lesser" form are
acceptable. It's called protecting those among us who are children from
the vagrancies of adults.8 The constitution of the United States has set
regulations to determine what is categorized as obscenity and what is not.
In Miller vs. California, 413 U.S. at 24-25, the court announced its
"Miller Test" and held, at 29, that its three part test constituted
"concrete guidelines to isolate 'hard core' pornography from expression
protected by the First Amendment.9 By laws previously set by the government,
obscene pornography should not be accessible on the Internet.
The government must police the Internet because people are breaking laws.
"Right now, cyberspace is like a neighborhood without a police
department."10 Currently anyone can put anything he wants on the Internet
with no penalties. "The Communications Decency Act gives law enforcement
new tools to prosecute those who would use a computer to make the
equivalent of obscene telephone calls, to prosecute 'electronic stalkers'
who terrorize their victims, to clamp down on electronic distributors of
obscene materials, and to enhance the chances of prosecution of those who
would provide pornography to children via a computer."
The government must regulate the flow of information on the Internet
because some of the commercial blocking devices used to filter this
information are insufficient.
"Cybercops especially worry that outlaws are now able to use powerful
cryptography to send and receive uncrackable secret communications and are
also aided by anonymous re-mailers."11 By using features like these it is
impossible to use blocking devices to stop children from accessing this
information. Devices set up to detect specified strings of characters will
not filter those that it cannot read. The government has to stop obscene
materials from being transferred via the Internet because it violates laws
dealing with interstate commerce.
It is not a valid argument that "consenting adults" should be allowed to
use the computer BBS and "Internet" systems to receive whatever they want.
If the materials are obscene, the law can forbid the use of means and
facilities of interstate commerce and common carriers to ship or
disseminate the obscenity.12 When supplies and information are passed over
state or national boundaries, they are subject to the laws governing
interstate and intrastate commerce. When information is passed between two
computers, it is subjected to the same standards.
The government having the power to regulate the information being put on
the Internet is a proper extension of its powers. With an information
based system such as the Internet there is bound to be material that is not
appropriate for minors to see. In passing of an amendment like the
Communications Decency Act, the government would be given the power to
regulate that material.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Buerger, David. "Freedom of Speech Meets Internet Censors;
Cisco Snubs IBM." Network World. Dialog Magazine Database, 040477. 31
Oct. 1994, 82.
Diamond, Edwin and Stephen Bates. "...And Then There Was Usenet."
American Heritage. Oct. 1995, 38.
Diamond, Edwin and Stephen Bates. "The Ancient History of the Internet."
American Heritage. Oct. 1995, 34-45.
Dyson, Esther. "Deluge of Opinions On The Information Highway."
Computerworld. Dialog Magazine Database, 035733. 28 Feb. 1994, 35.
Exon, James J. "Defending Decency on the Internet."
Lincoln Journal. 31 July 1995, 6.
Exon, James J. "Exon Decency Amendment Approved by Senate."
Jim Exon News. 14 June 1995.
Exon, James J., and Dan Coats. Letter to United States Senators. 27 July
1995.
Gaffin, Adam. "Are Firms Liable For Employee Net Postings?" Network World.
Dialog Magazine Database, 042574. 20 Feb. 1995, 8.
Gibbs, Mark. "Congress 'Crazies' Want To Carve Up Telecom." Network World.
Dialog Magazine Database, 039436. 12 Sept. 1994, 37.
Horowitz, Mark. "Finding History On The Net." American Heritage. Oct.
1995, 38.
Laberis, Bill. "The Price of Freedom." Computerworld.
Dialog Magazine Database, 036777. 25 Apr. 1994, 34.
Messmer, Ellen. "Fighting for Justice On The New Frontier." Network World.
Dialog Magazine Database, 028048. 11 Jan. 1993, S19."Policing Cyberspace."
U.S. News & World Report. 23 Jan. 1995, 55-60.
Messmer, Ellen. "Sen. Dole Backs New Internet Antiporn Bill." Network
World. Dialog Magazine Database, 044829. 12 June 1995, 12.
"Shifting Into The Fast Lane." U.S. News & World Report. 23 Jan. 1995, 52-
53.
Taylor, Bruce A. "Memorandum of Opinion In Support Of The Communications
Decency Amendment." National Law Center for Children & Families. 29 June
1995, 1-7.
Turner, Bob. The Internet Filter. N.p.: Turner Investigations, Research
and Communication, 1995.
"WebCrawler Search Results." Webcrawler. With the query words magazines
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