Under the first amendment the government must not regulate cyberporn. (First Amendment, "internet") Online sex has been available over the computer since the early 1980's. People would pay to down load pornographic pictures and talk dirty to each other. Usenet groups took control of porn after the Internet came about. They did not charge people to down load pictures and to interact with others. As a result, Internet porn grew. Things have changed dramatically since then with over a million different porn sit

Huber, Peter. "Electronic Smut." Forbes, July 1995

In response to the need to protect children the Communications Decency Act was passed. The first part of the CDA states if you display "indecent" or "patently offensive" information on the Internet, "in a manner available to a person under eighteen years of age," you are a criminal and have broken the law. The second part of the CDA reads you have a defense against prosecution if you take "reasonable, effective, and appropriate action" by restricting access to minors by needing a credit card, debit account, adult access code, or adult personal identification number. (C.D.A, "internet") This act is to be thought of as a way to legally zone porn behind an electric gate that can only be accessed by those who have adult identification. Also the Child Pornography Protection Act has been passed. It is to combat the use of computer technology that enables a pornographer to alter a picture of a child to make it seem as though the child engaged in an explicit sex act. Rulings about child pornography have existed for years and will always be enacted whether it is in the cyber universe or in magazines or movies.

It is understandable why many parents are in an uproar since discovering the dangers to children from the Internet. Parents all over have been pulling the plug on their kids internet use after discovering what they have access to and why they spend so much time of the computer. One woman expresses when she found out her sons were viewing "pornographic pictures in full color" how horrified she was and immediately discontinued their use of the net (personal interview). When parents view materials accessed by their kids, they feel that much of the material is not suitable for most adults. Parents can not always be there with their children to make sure they can see that they are not accessing what Bruce Ennis calls "smut". It is too easy for kids to get around the electronic gates that they need to access sites. There are a lot of uncertainties and risks that go along with allowing children to use the Internet.

All of the proposed acts to censor the Internet has to do with objectionable materials and offensive language. The danger in allowing this to happen is that not just sex and foul language are diminished, but information on topics that are sex related like STD's or AIDS could also be censored. Most medical web sites would need to clean up their publishing material on how to put on a condom and how to protect your self while having intercourse. Stories and new paper articles about rape would no longer be able to be published over the net. The Internet would become completely "PG 13."

"Censorship in a Box" Online Posting. ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union. (19 Oct. 1999)

http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue181/item1767.asp

Some common words found in the essay are:
Supreme Court, President Clinton, , Founding Fathers, Bruce Enniss, STD's AIDS, Decency Act, Protection Act, Internet Parents, Bruce Ennis, protect children, free speech, supreme court, constitutional rights, web sites, children internet, regulate cyberporn, online posting, communications decency act, government kids, kids accessing, future free speech, government kids accessing, 19 oct 1999, online posting december,
Approximate Word count = 2303
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)