Each day, millions of college students all over the world log on to the Internet to communicate with each other or to glean information from thousands of international host sites, and students at ULV are no different.
Thanks to the Vax, even students in the small community of La Verne have access to information on any subject, with just a couple keystrokes. But what if this access was taken away? What if the government decided to not only restrict what a person is allowed to receive on the Internet, but also what a person is allowed to send?
Freedom of speech on the information superhighway came one step closer to extinction last week as the Communications Decency Act of 1995 (S. 314) passed a committee vote and advanced to the Senate floor.
The bill, introduced by Sen. James Exon (D-Neb.) and Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), would expand current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on obscene and indecent audiotext to cover all forms of electronic communications networks.
According to the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), if the legislation is enacted, anyone who “makes, transmits, or otherwise makes available any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication” which is “obscene, lewd lascivious, filthy or indecent” using a “telecommunications device” would be subject to a fine of $100,000 or two years in prison.
If the bill becomes law, service providers will have to make a decision between severely restricting the activities of subscribers or completely shutting down their servers under the threat of liability. In order to escape liability, service carriers may have to pre-screen all messages and other files before transmitting them to the receivers. Due to the sheer numbers of messages sent on electronic mail everyday, this request would not only be unreasonable, it would be impossible.
The passage of S. 314 would have a drastic impact, even here at La Verne. Any message a person wished to send or receive on the Vax would first have to be read by the system manager before being deposited in the rightful mailbox, providing that the message is not deemed indecent or obscene. If S. 314 passes, students will no longer enjoy their freedom of speech that is often taken for granted.
This bill that proposes to eliminate so-called “X-rated” content over telecommunications servers poses a threat to the freedom of speech and privacy rights of all American citizens.
As the Supreme Court has established, there is not clear definition of obscenity. What is considered obscene by one person may not be by another. Therefore, service providers would have to limit access of anything that might be considered indecent or obscene under the broadest interpretation of the term.
Completely restricting content on electronic servicers is not the solution to the problem of on-line obscenity. What many people do not realize is that they can specifically choose what they receive in their electronic mailboxes. Why let the government take control over the issue when individuals themselves can? Most commercial interactive services, like Prodigy, America Online and Compuserve, already have the capability to limit access to certain types of services.
One of the main concerns of proponents of S. 314 is the ease in which children can obtain obscene or pornographic material on-line. Parents complain that they do not know what their children are reading or viewing. If this is true, it is up to the parents to take responsibility for their own children, not the government. Instead of taking away the freedom of speech of millions of users, a parent should take the time to monitor a child’s use of an on-line service.
If S. 314 is passed, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution will be threatened and the basic right of freedom of speech would perish.
