Katy Morris

    Internet pornography has become one of the major issues of study in today's high tech world. Pornographic material, the "depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing)" (Webster's dictionary), is transferred in chat rooms, newsgroups, and web sites. It is almost impossible to surf the internet without running into some kind of pornographic information.
 
    The dispute about cyberporn started with an article from Time magazine, based on a study by Martin Rimm. He mainly discussed pornographic material on bulletin boards and concluded that it is "widely distributed, highly profitable, and very popular." The figures he estimated from his research on bulletin boards was used to determine the amount of cyberporn found on the world wide web. This study has been widely discredited.

    There are two difficult issues when you examine the pornographic material found on the internet. First, how do you define obscene? Second, who sets the rules? The American government attempted to solve the problem by passing an Act, the Communication Decency Act (CDA), which would regulate pornographic material on the internet. This act made it illegal to send anything that could be considered obscene to another person with a harmful intent.
 
  Many people and organizations claimed this was an outright violation of the freedom of speech and showed their support by creating web pages expressing their opinions. Who would determine what was obscene and what wasn't? This question is impossible to answer because everyone's view of obscenity is different. Why did the United States feel they could regulate the internet, an international resource? Why should the US have any more jurisdiction than any other country? The CDA was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

    New technology has been released that is supported by people on both sides of the issue. There are many software packages and screening services available for those who want to protect themselves and their children. Cyberporn sites agree with the usage of such programs because they do not profit from any user who is not old enough to own a credit card.

    Many larger companies, such as Playboy and Penthouse, have their own web sites. These are so they can remain competitive in a technologically advancing society. The smaller businesses are the ones who dominate the cyberporn industry.

    Cyberporn is an extremely lucrative business. Demand is high and advertising is cheap. Cyberporn sites lure you in with some "teaser pictures" along with a disclaimer that you must be at least 18 to enter. Most charge you for any other service they provide, just fill out a simple form and hand over your credit card number.

    The CDA was a poor attempt to regulate the internet. First of all, this was a bill passed by the US government and holds no jurisdiction over other countries. The internet is a global community and cannot be regulated by the rules of one country. And if rules could be made, who would be responsible for making them and enforcing them? The second problem is how can you delineate between obscene and not obscene. This controversy has been around for a very long time and the internet has made it an issue that can no longer be ignored.

    I believe that pornography will always be present on the internet. The demand for it will never subside. The cyberporn sites are within their rights under the Constitution. They are expressing their freedom of speech.

    I think that regulating the internet is not only impossible but also a terrible idea. I think that everyone has the right to put up anything they want and view anything they want. The government should not be able to tell you what you can download or look at and what you can't. This also would defeat the purpose of the internet. The internet is supposed to create a global community, facilitate communication, and provide information. If people choose to do this in obscene ways, that is their business.