WWW: Beyond the Basics

3. The Internet Today

3.5 Legal Issues and the Internet

With the Internet becoming part of "main stream" America there are new legal issues concerning its users. Some of the largest issues surrounding the Internet today are privacy and free speech. These two main legal issues have lead to supreme court cases, federal legislation, and a constant debate among the Internet community. Does anyone have the right to say what is moral information and what is immoral information? Does anyone have the right to say what should be available on the Internet?

3.5.1 Privacy

Privacy is defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary as "The state of being concealed or the state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion." Does this imply that if information is not concealed properly, anyone that gains access has that right to have the information? Some argue that if it is available to obtain access, then the information can be looked at or copied. Others argue, if you do not have permission to access it, then you shouldn't. This is an ongoing debate among the Internet community. In the past years there have been an enormous number of intrusions into different computer systems. These systems range from college campus computers that hold students grades, to agencies that have secrete documents about our government.

Private computer systems or private information is for those that have permission to this information. It should not be for those that obtain it illegally. Let's look at a scenario. If you walk down a street in any neighborhood and turn every doorknob until you find one open, is it your right to walk in the house and look around? Maybe copy some information that was in the house? No, this is called breaking and entering because you did not have permission to be in the house by the owner. That is the same as privacy on the Internet. If someone tries to obtain a user login and password, succeeds, and enters a restricted computer system; they have no right to the information. It is a form of breaking and entering. Until recent years some computer crimes could go unpunished because there were no laws in place to protect electronic information.

What about your private information? Every United States Citizen has a social security number, along with a birth name and other pertinent information. Let's say that there is some company out there that has all of this information on you and has it for sale. Is it illegal because they captured the information off of the Internet. Maybe they obtained the information from capturing messages sent across the Internet. Do they have the right to copy this information and sell it? I would argue no if the information was obtained from private internet information. There are allegations that several companies take your personal information that is obtained through the Internet and sell it to whoever is willing to pay the price.

How about the idea of "cookies?" These are to be innocent headers that can help you when using the World Wide Web. Cookies were developed to make your Web search more personalized, but some direct marketers may use this information to solicit you for items that interest you (Gellman, 1996). Does the idea of cookies open your private interest to the rest of America? Are our lives becoming more vulnerable and more unsafe due to the information resulting from our use on the Internet?

These are just a few of the privacy issues that are faced on the Internet. There are many others that are being debated throughout the Internet communities, congress, and even our judicial system. What if someone stole your identity and posed as you in another part of the country? What if your classmate was able to obtain your homework because they knew the appropriate information to access your account? What about your private interest, and how private are they going to stay after using the World Wide Web?

3.5.2 The Right to Free Speech

The First Amendment of the United State of America Constitutionp is the "Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition." The first amendment gives American citizens the right to free speech, but does it give them the right to put anything on the Internet? Well, currently there is a big issue on censorship including the Internet, music, and literature. The differences between the Internet and the other is that we can stop young children from buy or listening to certain types of music or looking at dreadful TV shows and books. We can choose not to attend rallies or events held by those that do not share the same beliefs. We can choose not to participate in certain groups or organizations that conflict with our personal morals or goals. Can we keep those things that offend us off the Internet? How can we protect children on the Internet?

It is easy to surf from one sight to another and automatically have an unintentional visit to a site that contains offensive material. How does this effect our communities? We can argue about who has the right to say what belongs on the Internet and what doesn't belong. What about our responsibility as a society to children that have impressionable minds? How can we protect children from issues and things on the Internet that conflict with their parents or gardians teachings? There is an African proverb that says "It takes a whole village to raise one child." So who's responsible for what is out on the Internet or should it be a place for free speech? What can we do to avoid running into such sites if we choose not to?

There have been proposals to have every computer come with Internet information and to specialize the Web browsers according to the owners request; this helps the user controll offensive information (Ratcliffe, 1996). Does this really solve the problem? Can we stop our children from encountering offensive information? To obtain more information legal issues and the WWW see Chapter 5 and Chapter 9.

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Copyright © 1996 Vonda M. Patterson, All Rights Reserved

Vonda M. Patterson <vondap@csgrad.cs.vt.edu>
Last modified: Tue Nov 26 13:13:33 1996