Internet Free Speech In Jeopardy

The United States Senate is plain wrong thinking that making the Federal Communications Commission the Internet Police will make electronic communications any safer for our children. The only thing we see in the Communications Decency Act is a direct attack on the First Amendment and the economic vitality of Northern California.

Let us explain why if this wrong-headed law is passed in its current form it will never work.

Suppose the law bans the newsgroup alt.sex.stories because the "seven dirty words" are regularly used in the postings there. Banning the existence of the place where these sex stories is told won't stop the traffic -- it will just move to another place with an innocent-sounding name. After that newsgroup is busted for pornography the story writers will just move on to another group. With the current situation there is no such frivolous use of law enforcement resources and all the sex story writers are happy to stay in alt.sex.stories.

Using technology to sniff out naughty data doesn't seem to be possible. The basic technology of the Internet is based on breaking up data into small little chunks of data called packets. Packets sent to your computer are mixed up with the literally trillions of other packets flying around the net in a completely decentralized fashion. Not only would it take a huge effort to look inside the packets but there is no Internet central point where all data passes.

Another consequence of the Communications Decency Act will be to increase the use of encryption to protect private correspondence from the Government. And, there is a lot of talk now about the Government cracking down on "illegal" encryption technology.

Finally, the Internet may be heralding one of the biggest economic boons in world history. As the home of both the technology that runs the Internet and the owners of the most entertainment titles, California businesses are very likely to benefit greatly from the new electronic commerce that the Internet is spawning. Billions of dollars are being pumped into Silicon Valley right now because the world is getting wired.

To those lawmakers who want to tell us what we can say on the Internet we have a simple response -- don't do it.

It's not too late to stop this lunacy. Join us in letting our congressional representatives know that Cyberspace Today readers are against the final passage of the Communications Decency Act. Send e-mail telling us what you think to vern@cybertoday.com. Vernon Keenan, Publisher

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vern@cybertoday.com