During the past decade, our society has become
based solely on the ability to move large amounts
of information across large distances quickly.
Computerization has influenced everyone's life.
The natural evolution of computers and this need
for ultra-fast communications has caused a global
network of interconnected computers to develop.
This global net allows a person to send E-mail
across the world in mere fractions of a second and
enables to access information worldwide. Software
that allows users with a sound card to use the
Internet as a carrier for long distance voice calls
and video conferencing is the key to the future of
our society. Our democratic government sensing the
growing power of the Internet that is not so easy
to control is doing all it can to get on the top of
the wild horse. The government is dreaming to have
the control: to view all the information
circulating the web, to read our private e-mails,
to peek into chat rooms, and to restrict us, the
Internet people, in any way possible.
The
government wishes to be the next big brother who
will be watching you! No matter how small, any
attempt at government intervention in the Internet
will stifle the greatest communication innovation
of this century. At present, the web is the epitome
of the first amendment of the constitution: free
speech and right to privacy. Every American values
freedom of the speech and their privacy as some-
thing essential. "Freedom of speech is one of our
most precious rights" (Ferry 356). The key to the
worldwide success of the Internet is that it does
not limit its users. The web is a place where
people can speak their mind without being
reprimanded for what they say, or how they choose
to say it. Jim Exon, a...