`The Internet: A Clear and Present Danger?` by Cathleen A. Cleaver

The essay is effective in that it provides some convincing examples of potential internet dangers that can be experienced , with emphasis on how these "bad guys " can get away with their deeds with no law to control their actions . I must agree that "people who use the internet should not be exempt from many of the rules and regulations that govern their conduct elsewhere " Its arguments about general online business holds much merit . I do agree that there should be laws against copyright violation , fraud , child pornography , trust violation , and child-stalking p

However , the essay 's great failing is that it does not address the issue of freedom of expression as much as I think it needed to in the context of the , especially concerning pornography . Internet pornography is certainly a complicated , considering that many children have internet access . The essay contends that pornography must be controlled particularly because of these children . Although the welfare of children should indeed be of concern to us , I subscribe to the idea that "if you don 't want to see , don 't look

Encountering pornographic sites (or going anywhere on the internet for that matter ) generally requires an active decision by a person . I take the view that sites on the internet are public only in the sense that they are accessible when a person chooses to access them but that these sites are not publicly displayed in the sense that a billboard on the street is . Since seeing content generally involves the decision of a person to visit , making whatever information accessible to whomever chooses to access it seems to be reasonable

There have been times when a search using a seemingly innocuous phrase turns up results with nudity or pornographic content , especially when I 'm using a search engine with filters turned off . It seems to me that encountering sites with offensive or objectionable content is unavoidable , even if one does not want to come across them

I feel that children 's access to pornographic sites should be restricted . I recognize that impose , but still , measures should be enacted to deter or hinder young children from accessing such sites

One solution that has been proposed to solve this problem advocates a change in the domain naming system that will easily identify sites that are for adults only (i .e , pornographic sites . For example , if sites with adult content ends in .xxx ' rather than the usual domain identifiers , users will know that the site contains adult content , and therefore , can steer clear from it . Using this system , it will also be easier to filter out those kinds of websites

However , if there is any censorship , it will affect everyone , not just children . I still subscribe to the notion that it should be the parent 's /elder 's responsibility to protect children from the darker side of the internet . History has shown that anything that is suppressed by the government does not really disappear , but goes underground Censorship in any form...