Internet Censorship

Internet Censorship

Introduction

      Don Daufenbach stared at his computer screen.   "Bobby2vt" was e-mailing him again, and this time he seemed excited.   "Sounds like we have a deal," was the message that came in, Daufenbach says.   "As for what I like . . . the younger the better," it said.   In the next week, Daufenbach says, Bobby2vt sent him dozens of pictures of children having sex, hoping for videos in return.   Instead, Bobby2vt ended up with a swarm of federal agents at his door last February.   Daufenbach, it turned out was an undercover agent with the U.S. Customs Service.
The purpose of this research paper is to discuss the Communications Decency Act (CDA), to focus on legal issues facing censorship on the Internet, and to consider alternatives to protect children from ‘indecent' material on the Internet rather than government censorship.

Background Information

The Internet is a complex and limitless network of information stored on millions of computers worldwide, assessable to people through telephone lines and other communication channels.   The term Internet is so elusive, since it is not so much a physical entity as a description of an intangible.   Because of its ability to give voice to many people communicating with many others, it has the potential for being the first truly democratic communications tool.
There is no accurate way to determine how many people are connected to the Internet because the number grows exponentially every day.   Figures become obsolete before they can be published.   The Internet started as a military strategy and, more than thirty years later, has evolved into the massive network of more than three million computers worldwide.   One of the most prominent features of the young Internet was its freedom.  
Laws that have been developed for other forms of communication are being stretched to new limits as they try to work in this different world.   Unlike in the physical world, there is no physical location where communications...