The Communications Decency Act :: essays research papers fc

The Communications Decency ActThe U.S. government activity should not attempt to place restrictions on the internet.The cyberspace does not last to the United States and it is not ourresponsibility to save the world, so why atomic number 18 we attempting to regulate somethingthat belongs to the world? The Telecommunications Reform Act has done exactlythat, determine regulations on the profits.Edward Cavazos quotes William Gibson says, "As described in Neuromancer,Cyberspace was a accordant hallucination that felt and looked like a physicalspace that actually was a estimator-generated construct representing abstractdata." (1) When Gibson coined that phrase he had no idea that it would becomethe household word that it is today. "Cyberspace now represents a vast array ofcomputer systems accessible from remote physical locations." (Cavazos 2)The Internet has grown explosively over the last few long time. "The Internetsgrowth since its beginnings in 1981. At that time, the number of host systemswas 213 machines. At the time of this writing, twelve years later, the numberhas jumped to 1,313,000 systems connecting directly to the Internet." (Cavazos10)"Privacy plays a unique role in American law." (Cavazos 13) Privacy is notexplicitly provided for in the Constitution, yet about of the Internet usersremain anonymous. Cavazos says, "Computers and digital communicationtechnologies present a heartbreaking challenge to legislators and judges who try tomeet the demands of economic and social alteration while protecting this most basicand fundamental individualal freedom." Networks and the Internet make it easy foranyone with the proper equipment to look at information base around the worldinstantly and remain anonymous. "The right to conduct at least some forms ofspeech activity anonymously has been upheld by the U.S. autonomous Court." (Cavazos15) In cyberspace it is extremely uncommon for someone to use their disposed nameto conduct themselves, besides rather they use pseudonyms or "Handles". (Cavazos 14) non only is it not illegal to use handles on most systems, but the sysop (SystemOperator) does not have to allow anyone access to his data files on who is theperson behind the handle. Some sysops make the information public, or give the weft to the user, or dont collect the information at all.The Internet brings forth many another(prenominal) new concerns regarding crime and computers. Withmovies like Wargames, and more recently Hackers, becoming popular, computercrime is being blown out of proportion. "The word Hacker conjures up a vividimage in the popular media." (Cavazos 105) There atomic number 18 many types of computercrime that fall under the umbrella of "Hacking". Cavazos says, "In 1986Congress passed a comprehensive federal law outlawing many of the activities