Regulation Of The Internet Essay Research Paper

Regulation Of The Internet Essay, Research Paper

Regulating the Internet is a moral issue often debated. Specifically, the issue is if the Internet should be regulated by some kind of means such as the government, self- and also by parents. This issue exits in society today because the internet has become a worldwide medium for communication and information and it greatly influences our culture of the 90 s. The concern is that the Internet is getting flooded with things like violence and pornography that can be accessed by youths or children with just a click. Personally, I do not feel that regulating the net is needed. I believe that the Internet is about freedom, freedom of speech and should continue to be without restrictions, except of course for any illegal content. I find that government control would be unnecessary, since the Internet is still young and growing. Although, I do think that some materials such as pornography should be kept away from minors, but since it is so widely open to every one, so it s easily accessible to anyone with unfettered internet access to those materials. Still, The question remains: Should the Internet be regulated at all. Both sides of the issue have strong arguments. For the Yes side of the argument, regulating the net would mainly protect children from harmful and inappropriate materials, it could also protect a nation s culture from a dominant U.S. medium and also keep thinks like fraud out and protect a user s privacy. For the No side, they believe that regulating is pointless and blocking the net from children would strip them of their right to access information, everyone has different opinions on what is deemed appropriate and the internet was made to stay free from control. On a religious perspective, the Catholic Church views this issue in a different way. First of all the church finds that communications media is very important and for the common good, Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom justice and solidarity. (CCCB, Pg.658) The church believes that any type of information that helps people positively should be free, and believes that this is a right that they should have. Also, they feel that the media should not be able to violate individual rights to their privacy or reputation. Based on the net, that means other people should not be allowed to access into information of other users that is confidential. On the other hand, the Church also believes that anything unwholesome should not be allowed. Specifically, one such influence that the Church believes should be eliminated is Pornography. The Church feels that, [pornography] offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. (CCCB, Pg.64) Any production of pornography is a grave offense and should be prevented from being produced in any form, and this means the internet as well. To the church, Pornography is bad. On the Church point of view, the internet should be regulated while not removing the right to good information. At the Yes standpoint, they contain very strong reasons why we should regulate the Net. A first point for regulating the net is based on the Canadian perspective. In this first article, The Internet resists control , it contains many valid points. This article is concerned about the issue within Canada but generally speaking for all users. First, the net actually violates Canadian copyright law due to the fact of all the information being unlicensed. Another article is called Censoring the Net would sap its vitality . One important statistic found in this article is that the majority or web sites on the net is overwhelmingly American and only 15 percent are Canadian. This statistic proves that for the concern for Canadians, that we could be losing our identity or roots and culture through increasing influence of American media. The other situation that is happening within this that whether or not the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television telecommunications Commission) should be able to control these problems. The CRTC as noted from the article, Should Canada Regulate the Net. is a Canadian group responsible for regulating broadcasting in Canada and thus keeping Canadian roots and culture in the media. With the CRTC intervening, they would be able to protect Canadian heritage on the Internet. The regulations are intended to preserve Canadian identity in the face of what many Canadians see as an overwhelming American media influence. (Hesseldahl, Pg.2) The CRTC would be able to keep foreign influences from Canadians; not only American influence, but also other things like email and illegal things.Another issue concerned for regulating the net is that of privacy issues. From the article, Regulating Cyberspace it brings up many good supportive points. One point is that of protecting consumer privacy. There is a problem with companies on the net who actually tap your internet habits and track every single click which you do. People on the net do not know that many corporations have the ability to intrude and collect data on them. Also, many people on the net do not know is the amount of deception on the net. You may be chatting with someone in a chat room only to find it is only a person who is advertising a product online. That is why regulating the net should be needed.Another point is that by regulating the Internet, there could be child protection from improper materials; pornography is the