Censorship Essay -- Essays Paper

CensorshipAfter threatening the Communications Decency Act with a vetos of the pastversions, President Bill Clinton signed the post-horse into law on February 8, 1996.1Before hand, congress approved the largest change of the nationscommunications laws in 62 years. oneness of the largest controversial topicsincluded in the bill is the censorship of pornography, which now is astrenuously enforced crime of distributing knowingly to children under 18. Thecongress overwhelmingly passed the bill with a landslide 414-16 House vote anda 91-5 Senate vote.2 It seems now that the wide bill powerfulness not be what itcracked up to be, as it stands now, anyone who cogency upload James JoycesUlysses could be placed in jail for two years and have up to a $250,000 fine.3Representatives of on-line services industries were concerned most the bill,and feared they could be held criminally responsible for networkconversations.4We face a unique disturbing and urgent circumstance, because it is chi ldrenwho are the computer experts in our nations families, remarked a concernedRep. Senator of India Dan Coats.5 Although in reality, censorship would dolittle to stop the pornography problems. The bill is a nation legislationtrying to control a international network, which is virtually impossible. gibe to the First Amendment, Americans were granted to write anything theyplease, whether its indecent or not, several series of judicial decisions alsohelped the freedom down the road.6Nebraskan Democrat James Exon, put together an informational binder known asthe Blue Book to show the Senate about the goings on within the Internet.7Along the pages of the Blue Book were pictures of people bound and creation burnedby cigarettes, people pierced with swords and people involved in sexualactivities with animals.8 The Senate, acknowledging their ignorance of theInternet, passed Exons proposal after seeing the pictures in the Blue Book.9Along with dispersion of pornography, a person carri es the chance of twoyears in prison and a $250,000 fine which is a good reason to restrict much ofthe flow.10The Internet is extremely massive, filled with usenet newsgroups, web pages,IRC channels, ftp sites, gopher sites and much more. The Internet is the lastand largest frontier of uncensored speech, anything from friendly chat to childpor... ...ther person might besecretly trading child porn. With over 30 million users on the Internet, noone can guarantee that no pornography impart stray down from someone.BibliographyBackground Information. Editorial On File, Vol 27, Number 3, February 1-15,1996, p 148.Background Information. Editorial On File, Vol 26, Number 12, June 16-30,1995, p. 728.Elmer-Dwitt, Philip. On a Screen dependable You Cyberporn. Time July 3, 1995,EBSCO-CD.Lloyd, Fonda. Is it Wise to Censor the Net? Black Enterprise, December, 1995,EBSCO-CD.Dibbell, Julian. Muzzling the Internet. Time December 18, 1995, EBSCO-CD.Levy, Steven, and others. No Place for Kids? Ne wsweek, July 3, 1995,EBSCO-CD.Background Information. Editorial On File, Vol. 27, Number 11, June 1-15,1996, p. 700.Barlow, John, Thinking Locally, playacting Glabally. Time, January 15, 1996,EBSCO-CD.Sirico, Robert A. Dont censor the Internet. Forbes, July 29, 1996, EBSCO-CD.Olson, Renee, and others. Critics say Time Exaggerated Cyberporn Threat.School Library Journal, October, 1995, EBSCO-CD.Spertus, Ellen. Filtering the Net. Technology Review, October, 1995,EBSCO-CD.