Regulating
Internet sites difficult
As “spam” filters get tighter and tighter,
gone are the days when 50 e-mails with messages
touting enlargements and porn sites slipped
into the unsuspecting web-goers’ mailbox.
Now, ambiguously named senders inquire where
you’ve been or ask if you’ve heard the latest
joke, leading to a suit against one major
perpetrator.
The Federal Trade Commission and Congress
have been trying to find an effective way
to crackdown on the Internet since its inception.
The Communications Decency Act in 1996 was
tacked on to the Telecommunications Act
at the last minute in an attempt to control
indecent materials. The law was struck down
as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,
not only for its ambiguity and its breadth,
but also as limiting the rights of adults
in an attempt to protect children.
The Child Online Protection Act has also
been said to limit the rights of adults
by requiring installment of software filters
on public library computers. These filters
often censor material that is far from indecent
but uses words that are red-flagged as obscene.
Sites concerning breast cancer are a prime
example.
Most regulating agencies have encountered
problems regulating the Internet due to
the very nature of the beast. A worldwide
entity that exists on a huge network of
interconnected computers, places where the
FTC has no jurisdiction. But the commission
has pushed on nonetheless,
In early 1999, the FTC achieved almost total
control over advertising on the Internet.
This worldwide honor puts the control to
regulate advertising and business practices
on the Internet solely in the hands of the
FTC.
As the next frontier the Internet has been
both a boon and a threat to the government.
With so many Web sites in so many different
nations, there have been difficulties with
both regulation and, of course, proper taxation.
Citizens of the United States can easily
gamble online on a site located in a nation
where gaming is legal. Washington just hates
having all that money out of reach.
It’s hard to find the happy medium between
adequate regulation of a potentially dangerous
tool and making people realize that often
they are taking a risk by putting their
information out on the Internet. Responsible
business practices are an ideal to be strived
for in all commerce industries, but technology
always seems to be one step ahead of regulation.
As soon as a new filter comes out someone
finds a way to get around it.
The
Internet appears to be the legislative battleground
of the future, with the government and the
FTC trying desperately to crackdown on the
wild stepchild of the mainstream old school
media. Infinite and elusive, the Internet
may just slip right through the ever-tightening
grip of regulation.
Monica L. Pardee is a journalism major
at Cal State Long Beach.
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