Right now hundreds of thousands of people have just sat down in front of a computer. After brief negotiation of something called a mouse, these same people will be transported into a realm of virtually unlimited possibilities. Beep . . . beep . . . pulse . . . waiting-almost there, wham! -connection. To clarify, this is not a transcription of the latest episode on the Sci-fi channel, rather, this description friends, encompasses the Internet. What appears to be one of the most influential advancements of human kind, possibly since sliced bread, is not without controversy. While the Internet is a place in which people from all walks of life are recognized, it is also a place that has perpetuated the ease in which objectionable materials are accessed. As a result of the indecent materials present on the Internet, some people believe that censorship should be enacted to protect viewers, while the opposition believes that any type of government mandated censorship would challenge America's right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Although this complex issue having ethical, legal, and technical aspects involves all users of the Internet, specific gr

Four months after the Communications Decency Act was enacted, it was declared unconstitutional by three Federal Judges. By looking at the reasoning behind the judges' decision, one can further understand the complicated nature of Internet censorship. Stewart Dalzell, one of the three judges who declared the C.D.A. unconstitutional, published an opinion article describing the reasoning behind his decision. According to Judge Dalzell, the definition of the Internet is a "speech-enhancing medium," and a "never ending worldwide conversation," where government censorship in the form of the C.D.A. would most certainly interrupt that conversation, and in essence, dishonor First Amendment Rights (554-555). Certain types of censorship regarding the C.D.A. are cited to have been an inevitable failure. This is because, one half of all Internet communication originates outside the United States. The idea of censoring all indecent materials on the Internet is very unreasonable considering that individuals in countries other than America comprise a large percentage of the people hosting indecent Web pages. Conclusively, the United States could not enforce individuals from other countries to abide by the C.D.A.'s provisions (554).

Web Pages," speaks of academia's concern under this law's provisions. Among commercial pornographic evidence that the U.S. Justice Department presented as indecent material on the Internet, were Web sites published by students at four universities. As a result, the question of responsibility in these circumstances has created some trepidation. Who would be held liable here, the student or the university creating Web space? Cautious universities worry that they are going to be forced to screen everything that is posted by students. However, by the sheer volume of materials on the Internet, this may be impractical (552). Other organizations similarly voiced concern at the wide range of materials that could be targeted under the C.D.A.. Would anthropological or archeological collections on the Web, with some forms of nudity be targeted as indecent? The reply was "yes" (553). Dan R. Olsen, Jr., from the Justice Department, explained that a rating system would give Internet users and providers, some kind of protection from prosecution under the law (553). However, even some art museum Web pages would be targeted as indecent under this "tagging" method.

It seems conflict arises on the two extreme sides of this issue

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Approximate Word count = 1664
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)