Internet Censorship Essay Example for Free

Internet Censorship Essay Introduction Censorship had always been a subject of debate among those who want media to be censored and those who feel that censorship is a violation of the freedom of speech. The internet has not escaped the issue of censorship. The internet is an information highway and no other form of media is as pervasive and far reaching. Those who favor censoring the internet feels that there should be some form of protection for minors and all people from viewing offensive materials on the internet while those who are against it believes that people should be given the right to choose what to view or not as stated in the first amendment. This paper discusses the arguments for the need to censor the internet and why it should not be censored. Background With the observed prevalence of indecent language and obscene pictures in the internet, groups and organizations have called on for the censorship of the internet. The government’s response to this call was the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which was passed into law by the United States Congress; the act would regulate the forms of speech in the internet (Wallace Mangan, 1996). The law was seen by pro-censorship groups as a way of minimizing immoral content in the internet which might have contributed to the moral degeneration of our society (Qazi, 1996). A year after, the Supreme Court ruled that the CDA was unconstitutional and in turn protected the first amendment (EPIC, 2002). The victory of the free speech proponents over the CDA was short lived, in 1998; the Child Online Protection Act was signed into law by President Clinton which in essence took after the CDA. The COPA mandated criminal penalties for commercially distributing materials harmful to minors including indecent speech (EPIC, 2004). The enactment of COPA again resulted to heated debates and protests over the unconstitutionality of the law, and the free speech protesters were not disappointed. In 2004, after a series of Supreme Court ruling against the COPA, it maintained the injunction on the enforcement of the law. Communications Decency Act of 1996 The President signed the Communications Decency Act into law in January 1996; the act criminalizes indecent speech on the internet. The act identifies that speech depicting sexual organs and acts, excretory organs and acts in a patently offensive fashion under contemporary community standards as indecent speech (Wallace Mangan, 1996). The dubious and vague definition of indecency and the standards by which a word (pure text) is judged to be obscene have made the act questionable. In fact, the CDA was met with violent reactions because it proved to be too restrictive and did not account for situations wherein sexually explicit words have to be used but has scientific, literary, artistic or political values. The act also stated that indecency will be judged based on it being patently offensive, which in practice allows a jury to judge the material as indecent based on how they feel about it, regardless of its scientific, literary or artistic value. Moreover, it also permitted the community to determine the standards by which indecency can be measured. This is unrealistic, for every community or state has its own cultural standards and asking people to use words or materials that are acceptable to each community means restricting speech to the most conservative standards. On the other hand, the Morality in Media, the National Law Center for Children and Families, the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families and the Family Research Council, who are pro-CDA argue that the CDA does not infringe upon the first amendment. The act accordingly updates and amends Federal obscenity statutes and dial-a-porn laws and that it requires adults who use patently offensive sexual expression to place blinders on their pornography. Further, they point out that what is indecent is well known to the general public and the mass media and that the court should re-interpret the law to be applied only to prurient pornography (McCullagh, 1996). The Supreme Court easily ruled that the CDA was unconstitutional due to the fact that the act tries to restrict content and this is in direct violation of the first amendment. Child Online Protection Act of 1998 The Child Online Protection Act is another effort to censor the content of the internet. It is different from the CDA in that it specifies that children should be protected from harmful language and materials made available in the internet. Thus violators will be subjected to steep fines and prison terms. As with the case with the CDA the COPA also is judged to be too restrictive. It mandates that all material or written text in the internet be acceptable to children, thus it would mean that the content of the internet is limited to children only. In this respect the act states that identifying data should be provided by adults like credit cards to determine their age, but is also discriminatory to those adults who do not have credit cards. Thus the act again is a threat to the freedom of speech that is a fundamental and basic right to each human being. The Supreme Court also finds the act unconstitutional and even after a series of appeals and injunctions; it has maintained that the act cannot be enforced into law. Meanwhile, those who endorse the COPA articulate that the act is dissimilar from the CDA because it applies to commercial pornographic sites. In an attempt to refute the arguments of those against the COPA, the pro groups reiterate that it is economically and technically feasible for the identified sites to check for the age of the surfers and that defining what is harmful to minors is not vague and complicated and can easily be implemented by the states (Macavinta, 1999). They feel that the COPA is needed at this time and age because of the necessity of protecting our children from being corrupted by harmful materials in the internet that may be a cause for abuse and exploitation (Macavinta, 1998). Conclusions Efforts to censor the internet have failed because as an interactive medium it is a vehicle for the expression of man’s freedom of speech. Any attempt by the government to restrict it is a violation of the fundamental human rights of each individual in this democratic country. But the justification for the need of a law to protect children from pornography and violent materials in any form is undeniably valid and should be also be respected. The Supreme Court has also supported the free speech groups in their fight against censorship and is undeniably a champion of the first amendment, but it does not mean that the SC do not give due importance to children’s welfare and safety but striking a balance between the freedom of speech and censorship is a difficult battle to win. Bibliography Communications Decency Act (February 2, 2002). Electronic Privacy Information Center, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www. epic. org/free_speech/cda/ Internet Censorship (February 1, 2002). Electronic Privacy Information Center, RetrievedApril 20, 2006 from http://www. epic. org/free_speech/censorship/ Macavinta, C. (1998). Suit filed against CDA II, CNET News. com, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://news. com. com/Suit+filed+against+CDA+II/2100-1023_3-217005. html? tag=st. rn Macavinta, C. (1999). DOJ to wrap up pro-COPA testimony, CNET News. com, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://news. com. com/DOJ+to+wrap+up+pro-COPA+testimony/2100-1023_3-220574. html McCullagh, D. (1996). The CDA challenge: The battle of the briefs. Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://www. xent. com/spring96/0582. html Qazi, U. (1996). The internet censorship controversy, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Censorship/notes. html#6 The Legal Challenge to the Child Online Protection Act (June 29, 2004). Electronic Privacy Information Center, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www. epic. org/free_speech/copa/ Wallace, J. Mangan, M. (1996). The Internet Censorship FAQ, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www. spectacle. org/freespch/faq. htm Notes: Actual Materials Cited †¢ Wallace, J. Mangan, M. (1996). The Internet Censorship FAQ, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www.spectacle. org/freespch/faq. htm What threats of censorship exist for the Internet? The principal threat of Internet censorship today is the Communications Decency Act, a law passed by Congress and signed by the President in January, 1996 which would apply quite radical regulations to speech on the Internet. What is the Communications Decency Act (CDA)? The CDA criminalizes indecent speech on the Internet. One section of the CDA defines indecency as speech depicting or describing sexual or excretory acts or organs in a patently offensive fashion under contemporary community standards. Each of these clausesindecent, depicting or describing, patently offensive, and contemporary community standardshides a landmine threatening the future of freedom of speech in this country. †¢ Communications Decency Act (February 2, 2002). Electronic Privacy Information Center, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www. epic. org/free_speech/cda/ In a landmark decision issued on June 26,1997, the Supreme Court held that the Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of speech. †¢ The Legal Challenge to the Child Online Protection Act (June 29, 2004). Electronic Privacy Information Center, Retrieved April 20, 2006 from http://www. epic. org/free_speech/copa/ In October 1998, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), the sequel to CDA. COPA establishes criminal penalties for any commercial distribution of material harmful to minors. †¢ McCullagh, D. (1996). The CDA challenge: The battle of the briefs. Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://www. xent. com/spring96/0582. html. The arguments advanced in the brief a joint venture of Morality in Media, the National Law Center for Children and Families, the Family Research Council, Enough is Enough! , and the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families center around one concept: indecency means pornography. That idea stinks like, well, a rotten egg. Their argument, which mirrors the DoJs, goes as follows: 1. The CDA merely updates and amends Federal obscenity statutes and dial-a-porn laws. 2. All the CDA does is require adults who use patently offensive sexual expression to put electronic blinder racks in front of their pornography. 3. The test for indecency is not vague or overbroad and does not apply to serious works of literature, art, science, and politics. 4. What is indecent is well known to the public and the operators of mass communications media facilities. (If indecency is too vague, the CDA is unconstitutional. ) 5. The court has an obligation to interpret these sections narrowly. That is, the three-judge panel should *reinterpret* the CDA to affect only prurient pornography. Taylor calls this judicial narrowing, and when I spoke with him he insisted that it was what the court will do. †¢ Macavinta, C. (1998). Suit filed against CDA II, CNET News. com, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://news. com. com/Suit+filed+against+CDA+II/2100-1023_3-217005. html? tag=st. rn The law simply extends into cyberspace laws that protect children from pornography off the Net, Shyla Welch, director of communication for Enough is Enough, which lobbied for the legislation, said today. †¢ Macavinta, C. (1999). DOJ to wrap up pro-COPA testimony, CNET News. com, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://news.com. com/DOJ+to+wrap+up+pro-COPA+testimony/2100-1023_3-220574. html Proponents of COPA say it is different from the CDA in that it only applies to sites selling pornography. Witnesses will testify today that it is economically and technically feasible for these sites to check surfers IDs through credit cards, adult PINs, or digital signatures. Justice Department witnesses will testify that Web sites will not be harmed financially by the lawand that defining harmful to minors is not as complicated as the ACLU makes it out to be. After all, 48 states have harmful to minors laws on the books, they will argue. †¢ Qazi, U. (1996). The internet censorship controversy, Retrieved April 21, 2006 from http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Censorship/notes. html#6 Both public and private interest groups have shown great concern for the content of material available via the Internet. They are driven by deeply rooted religious and ethical beliefs. They feel that the Internet is a medium that is being abused to allow extremists, unethical, and immoral individuals to corrupt society.

The Pit an the Pendulum :: essays research papers

The Pit an the Pendulum By: Edger Allen Poe The Pit an the Pendulum by Edger Allen Poe is what this essay came from. The story starts with the heretic getting sentenced the death penalty. He is thrown in a big pitch black pit, with a swinging pendulum hanging from the roof, to eventually be killed in some way. I believe that this character is a dynamic character because he goes through a lot and changes a lot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One thing that was interesting was, that the heretic might have been post humus. He says â€Å"I was sick, sick unto death,† he referred to his sickness as past tense by saying â€Å"was.† Unto death means that he is dead. So he was saying that he was sick until he died. So is he post humus or does it just sound that way?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think if you read this story you will agree that he is delusional. In fact he says â€Å"I saw angels for a few moments of delirious Horror.† So he also knows he’s delirious. For a while he saw angels, then their heads burst into flames and eventually into candles. He also sees the judges again and some other images.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As you would guess he was scared. He said that he trembled at the sound of his own voice. He is scared about the horrible death and he’s not even sure what it is. The blade, at the end of the story, comes down so far that when he’s lying down on the floor it is slowly cutting his robe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally he becomes relived. He actually was not just relieved at the end but also in the middle of the story. He stated that his distress had left him. The rats bite through his straps that were holding him down and I’m sure that led to a lot of relief. At the end of the story he sees an outstretched arm and then is pulled out of his cell, which was the ultimate relief.

A Reflection On Modern Medicine Essay

The Hippocratic Oath is a promise in essence â€Å"to do no harm† made by a new doctor before becoming a practicing physician. The oath has been a standard of the medical community for several centuries. It remains just as meaningful and valid today as when Hippocrates wrote it in 400 BC. Medical ethics in today’s modern society has become very blurry and hard to understand (Price 1). It is not the oath that has acquired a more complicated meaning. It is the practice of medicine that has become more complex. Presently, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for doctors to discern good medicine from bad medicine. In our current society political correctness, policy, and politics have come to define good medicine as opposed to what is best for the patient. Over a century ago, H. G. Wells was criticized for his novel The Island of Doctor Moreau written in 1896. Literary critics and the general public were appalled by the atrocities depicted in the text. Contemporary authors, physicians, and scientists could not fathom the cruel behavior of Doctor Moreau. And it was easy to see that Dr. Moreau was practicing bad medicine and had broken his vow ‘to do now harm. ’ The Island of Doctor Moreau was a novel written late in 1896 by H. G. Wells. The plot seems relatively simple and typical of a science fiction novel. A young civil servant is the sole survivor of shipwreck. He is found floating along side the island of Doctor Moreau who rescues him. The young man has no knowledge that Doctor Moreau has fled from his home nation fearing charges of animal cruelty. Upon first impressions, the young man falls in love with the island. Slowly he remembers stories about Dr. Moreau and the horrors he created. The lush fauna and sandy beaches are exciting and new to him. To paraphrase John S. Partington, in The Death of the Static: H. G. Wells and the Kinetic Utopia, Dr. Moreau’s island was like Eden, Dr. Moreau was God, and Prendick was like Adam. When curiosity gets the best of him he wanders deep into the overgrowth and what he finds there is deeply shocking. Doctor Moreau is using a process called vivisection to create a hybrid of animal and human. His research goal is to make man be absent of evil. In the end Moreau is killed and the young man, Prendick, escapes and lives to tell the tale. To gain a better understanding of the novel and the beliefs of H. G. Wells it is important to look at the prevailing scientific knowledge of the time in which the novel was written. The late 19th century was when Darwin first made known his theories of evolution and survival of the fittest. Darwin believed that all species including humans, change with time. In time when God was the creator of all, the idea of evolution and our link to other species was very disturbing to the general public. H. G. Wells was a contemporary writer of this time. In two of his most famous novels, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, he investigates the conflict between nature and God. In summary, H. G. Wells was not just an author but also a trained biologist. What could be more frightening than an island of beasts butchered by a mad scientist. Dr. Moreau does not just alter the bodies but using plastic surgery to make them appear human but also their minds (Mclean). He has them recite the laws he created. The gather together and chant â€Å"Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men? † But that is not the worst of it. After the chanting of the Law comes the hymn of praise to their Creator: His is the House of Pain. His is the Hand that makes. His is the Hand that wounds. His is the Hand that heals. His is the lightning-flash. His is the deep salt sea. His are the stars in the sky†¦. To summarize Freeman Dyson point in his book titled Disturbing the Universe, a biologist like Wells has had to confront the idea, can the scientific community play god and if so, can they stay sane (Dyson 111). Can the scientific community remain objected and no let the power of life, death, and creation which is left in their hands go to their heads. If the answer is no, than the lesson is learned, and Dr. Moreau is what will be produced. A man who knows no ethical boundaries, who believes he is more powerful than God. Much of H. G. Wells writing explores the idea of what are the implications of modern biology gone wrong. By allowing people and animals to be altered, even if it is treatment for their â€Å"own good† the human race will loose two important anchors- our sense of identity, and the brotherhood of mankind. These two things keep us sane and of course any visitor to The Island of Dr. Moreau looses these completely. Certainly, Prendick does, he must fight for his life and kill, an activity he would never do had he not wandered upon the Doctor’s Island. The scientific community has come a long way since 1896. The knowledge of DNA, we know in detail how life is produced and reproduced. Whoever can read the DNA language can also learn to write it. Whoever learns to write the language will in time learn to design living creatures according to his whim. Presently, the public should fear not the crude Dr. Moreau’s with knives but the young, bright zoologist sitting at his computer cloning an extinct animal, or splicing genes in and out the human genome to create a superior human. Though it was science-fiction in 1896, Wells’ novel is frighteningly close to science today. The issues he pressed in this novel are still current. Even more so because the lines of what constitutes harm are very blurry. What Doctor Moreau did was wrong but aren’t plastic surgeons modern versions of Doctor Moreau? Except clients actually pay them to slice them up and make them more perfect humans. In 2003 there were 8. 7 million cosmetic plastic surgeries. This number is up 32% from 2002 (Hill). What Doctor Moreau did was wrong but aren’t therapists taking advantage of a nation’s worth of people who are â€Å"emotionally underdeveloped, psychically frail, and requiring the ministrations of mental health professionals to cope with life’s vicissitudes. Being â€Å"in touch with one’s feelings† and freely expressing them have become paramount personal virtues. Today-with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem-we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with life’s challenges. † (Sommers). Is that any worse then Doctor Moreau solution of having his pseudo humans chant the rules of being human? Sally Satel who wrote Victimizing the ‘Victims’, which is the commentary exploring how political correctness in the medical profession is hindering the quality of patient care people receive. In summary Satel says, the goals of the public health sector have changed from using science to improve people’s lives to a â€Å"global ideology to manipulate the way people think about disease and its remedies. † The change is not for the better. Today, she argues, victimology is one of the biggest trends in medicine. There is a trend in the medical world to look at connection as the cause and make diagnoses accordingly. For example, it’s true that wealthier people tend to be healthier. But can you assume that poverty is responsible for higher levels of disease among the poor? Are the poor incapable of helping themselves? Well, yes, argue leading â€Å"indoctrinologists,† as Satel calls the backers of poltically correct medicine. Which is why two health experts could write in the American Journal for Public Health, â€Å"we must address the social inequalities that so reliably produce† these inequalities in health (Satel). HMO’s offer a similar problem. To paraphrase Sarah Cay Bradley viewpoint with the increase of HMO’s there has been a drastic decrease in how much Americans spend on healthcare, also decreasing is the quality of healthcare people are receiving. Doctors are forced to follow the rules of their demanding HMO partners. Even if what is in the best interest of the patient does not follow those rules. There are several cost effective policies that physicians are required to follow today. One concept is time is money, the quicker a doctor gets a patient out the more money that is saved. Doctors always seem to be in a hurry spending very little time actually speaking to their patients. Which can lead to misdiagnosis or overlooked health problems. Political correctness, policy, and politics drive the current scientific and medical communities. Instead of producing healthcare professionals who are compassionate and reflective, they produce professionals can simply follow instructions. Just because doctors today are following the rules set forth for them by insurance companies, and the government does not mean they are practicing good medicine. Perhaps they too, like Doctor Moreau, have forgotten their oath ‘to do no harm’ and replaced it with the creed ‘make more money. ’ In 1896 H. G. Wells, pondered in text, the â€Å"what ifs† of what could go wrong with modern medicine and science. The public rebuked his rather blunt commentary as foolishness and vulgarity. A hundred years later, Dr. Moreau has become the norm. Works Cited Dyson, Freeman. Disturbing the Universe. New York: Basic Books, 1979. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 . Hill, Theresa. â€Å"More Than 8. 7M Cosmetic Plastic Surgeries in 2003, Up 32 Pct. Over 2002; For 12th Year, American Society of Plastic Surgeons Reports Statistics. † US New Wire Service. 8 March 2004. 09 Dec. 2005 . Mclean, Steven. â€Å"W. Warren Mclean. H. G. Wells: Traversing Time. † Utopian Studies 16. 2 (2005): 320+. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 .

Amazon River Basin Countries

The Amazon River is the second longest river (it is just shorter than the Nile River in Egypt) in the world and it has the largest watershed or drainage basin as well as the most tributaries of any river in the world. For reference, a watershed is defined as the area of land that releases its water into a river. This entire area is often referred to as the Amazon Basin. The Amazon River begins with streams in the Andes Mountains in Peru and flows into the Atlantic Ocean about 4,000 miles (6,437 km) away.The Amazon River and its watershed encompass an area of 2,720,000 square miles (7,050,000 sq km). This area includes the largest tropical rainforest in the world - the Amazon Rainforest. In addition parts of the Amazon Basin also include grassland and savannah landscapes. As a result, this area is some of the least developed and most biodiverse in the world. Countries Included in the Amazon River Basin The Amazon River flows through three countries and its basin includes three more. The following is a list of these six countries that are part of the Amazon  River region arranged by their area. For reference, their capitals and populations have also been included. Brazil Area: 3,287,612 square miles (8,514,877 sq km)Capital: BrasiliaPopulation: 198,739,269 (July 2010 estimate) Peru Area: 496,225 square miles (1,285,216 sq km)Capital: LimaPopulation: 29,546,963 (July 2010 estimate) Colombia Area: 439,737 square miles (1,138,914 sq km)Capital: BogotaPopulation: 43,677,372 (July 2010 estimate) Bolivia Area: 424,164 square miles (1,098,581 sq km)Capital: La PazPopulation: 9,775,246 (July 2010 estimate) Venezuela Area: 352,144 square miles (912,050 sq km)Capital: CaracasPopulation: 26,814,843 (July 2010 estimate) Ecuador Area: 109,483 square miles (283,561 sq km)Capital: QuitoPopulation: 14,573,101 (July 2010 estimate) Amazon Rain Forest Over half the world rainforest is located in the Amazon Rain Forest which is also called Amazonia. The majority of the Amazon River Basin is within the Amazon Rain Forest. An estimated 16,000 species live in the Amazon. Although the Amazon Rain Forest is huge and is incredibly biodiverse its soil was not suitable for farming. For years researchers assumed that the forest must have been sparsely populated by humans because the soil could not support the agriculture needed for large populations. However, recent studies have shown the forest was much more densely populated than previously believed. Terra Preta The discovery of a type of soil known a terra preta has been found in the Amazon River Basin. This soil is the product of ancient jungle foresty. The dark soil is actually a fertilizer made from mixing charcoal, manure and bone. The charcoal is primarily what gives the soil its characteristic black color. While this ancient soil can be found in several countries in the Amazon River Basin its primarily found in Brazil. This isnt surprising as Brazil is the largest country in South America. Its so large it actually touches all but two other countries in South America.