Government Intervention on the Internet

Essay by Anonymous UserUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, March 1997

download word file, 5 pages 4.0

During the last decade, our society has become based on the sole ability to

move large amounts of information across great distances quickly. Computerization

has influenced everyone's life in numerous ways. The natural evolution of computer

technology and this need for ultra-fast communications has caused a global network

of interconnected computers to develop. This global network allows a person to send

E-mail across the world in mere fractions of a second, and allows a common person

to access wealths of information worldwide. This newfound global network,

originally called Arconet, was developed and funded solely by and for the U.S.

government. It was to be used in the event of a nuclear attack in order to keep

communications lines open across the country by rerouting information through

different servers across the country. Does this mean that the government owns the

Internet, or is it no longer a tool limited by the powers that govern.

Generalities such

as these have sparked great debates within our nation's government. This paper will

attempt to focus on two high profile ethical aspects concerning the Internet and its

usage. These subjects are Internet privacy and Internet censorship.

At the moment, the Internet is epitome of our first amendment, free speech. It

is a place where a person can speak their mind without being reprimanded for what

they say or how they choose to say it. But also contained on the Internet, are a huge

collection of obscene graphics, Anarchists' cookbooks, and countless other things that

offend many people. There are over 30 million Internet surfers in the U.S. alone, and

much is to be said about what offends whom and how.

As with many new technologies, today's laws don't apply well when it comes

to the Internet. Is the Internet like a bookstore, where servers...