Internet Censorship 4
The capacity of the information superhighway has exploded in the recent years. It encompasses the east and the west, the land and the sea, and anything our human mind could dream of. This is a good thing, right? With the knowledge of the world just on one's fingertips, it must be good, right? Sure, if it is used the right way. A saying goes like this, "Too much of a good thing is bad." It is true. The Internet does accommodate a lot of information. In a way, it has too much information. The Internet contains certain information that we DON'T want minors to have access of. Some of these unwanted information might be pornography, gambling, and some sensitive issues like homosexuality. So what do we do about the stuff that we don't minors to see? Do we just make some law and erase it from our precious Internet? No. First of all, this would be impossible to do because there is just too much unwanted information. Second of all, this would defeat the purpose of the Internet. In the article "The Online Cooperative Publishing Act," it called the Internet "the manifestation of humankind's quest for limitless two-way interaction with thought" ("Cooperative" internet). Since there is a vague line of wh
."Faulty Filters: How Content Filters Block Access to Kid-Friendly Information on the Internet." Sure, the Internet contains pornography, violence, and all sorts of other bad stuff, we all know that, but we also know that the Internet is not the only media that contains those materials. Why should the Internet be the scapegoat? No, banning pornography would not hurt the Internet. However, blocking software, "family-friendly" search engines are not the solution; they are part of the problem. They do more harm than benefit by restricting access to the fruits of the Internet. Relying on restrictive software will not teach any critical thinking skills. The real solution is to educate our children. Educating the children, giving them the "critical thinking skills" will not only help them through the technological era they grew up in, but help them to be successful in the future. Without freedom on the Internet, the wonderful tool will be diminished to nothing more than "a souped-up, G-rated television network" ("Censorship" internet). Is pornography really a threat to children? "Children have looked at nude bodies for millions of years. In fact, it could be argued that it might be harmful for children NOT to look at adult sexual practices, because whatever they will imagine instead is probably worse and most certainly will serve them less well when they grow up" ("Grossman" internet). Instead of restricting the Internet, the government should encourage the growth of the Internet. One must keep in mind, "Censorship, like poison gas, can be highly effective when the wind is blowing the right way. But the wind has a way of shifting, and sooner or later, it blows back upon the user" ("Censorship" internet). Huber, Peter. "Electronic Smut." Forbes. 31 July 1995: 1p. Ebscohost There have been a lot of attempts to censor the Internet. There has been an attempt to make censorship on the Internet a law, as a part of the telecommunications bill, Communications Decency Act, shortened as CDA. CDA would have made it a crime to post anything on the internet "that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs" ("Grossman" internet). Also caught up in the internet-censorship-fervor are the software companies. Almost overnight, many companies sprang up providing parents and libraries programs that promised to filter out all the inappropriate materials on the Internet. Branched out from the filter programs are filter search engines. Basically, it is a same old search engine that puts its results through the filter engines. Another attempt to censor the Internet is made by companies that attempted to rate every website on the homepage. They are independent companies that visit each website and give it a rating. All of the attempts to censor the Internet had been ineffective. "The Online Cooperative Publishing Act." Online Posting. Safesurf - Making the Net Safe. 8 The Internet is different than any other technology out there. Sure the Internet's accessibility is growing by the day, it is still not as accessible as TVs and radios. If there were obscene talking on the radio, anyone anywhere anytime can accidentally tune to it. Unlike the widely accessible radio, "people don't inadvertently tune in to alt.sex.pedophile while driving to a Sunday picnic with Aunt Gwendolyn" ("Smut" Ebscohost). One court ruled that "if an individual who voluntarily opens his door and allows a pig into his parlor is in a less of a position to squeal" ("Smut" Ebscohost). However, most people, most of the time, will want to keep the pigs out of their own private space. One wouldn't want someone else to barge into one's room and mess it up, right?
Some common words found in the essay are:
Internet Branched, Liberties Union, Smut Ebscohost, Vice President, Internet Relying, Internet Ed, Supreme Court, Decency Act, Publishing Act, Internet Censorship, july 1999, faulty internet, online posting, supreme court, censorship internet, contemporary community standards, inappropriate materials, grossman internet, censor internet, community standards, 8 july 1999, contemporary community, family-friendly search engines, online cooperative publishing, cooperative publishing act,
Approximate Word count = 3124
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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