The Internet Pornography And Children Essay Research

The Internet, Pornography, And Children Essay, Research Paper

Why should anyone be concerned about erotica on the Internet? After all, this is a

free state and everyone should hold entree to anything they want, right? This place would

be true if merely grownups used the Internet ; it can non be true when kids besides use the Internet.

Most people would hold that kids should non hold entree to Internet sites that are

considered adult. Does that intend that kids should non be allowed Internet entree or

that the Internet should non hold pornographic sites? Of class it doesn? t mean that! What it

does intend is that the issues originating from the mixture of kids and Internet should be dealt

with and non ignored.

This paper will try to intelligently discourse some of those issues. Areas covered will

include what the Internet is, hazards to kids who are sing the Internet, what erotica is,

and Torahs refering kid erotica ( in general and over the Internet ) . Additionally, the

figure, content, and handiness of adult sites will be discussed. Last, this paper will

discourse what steps can be taken to protect kids from adult Internet sites.

What precisely is the Internet? It is a planetary web of computing machines used to convey all

types of informations between computing machines. Text, Numberss, plans, illustrations, exposure, sound,

life, and picture can all be transmitted over the Internet. Contrary to what some people may

think, the Internet is non a individual computing machine nor is it a individual service. The Internet is non owned by

or governed by anyone. It exists entirely through the support of the companies and establishments that

entree it.

Though the Internet seems comparatively new, its roots really start in the sixtiess. In 1969,

the Department of Defense started the? ARPANET? undertaking. ARPANET was a decentralized

computing machine web that was used to associate military research workers at four universities. The Internet

subsequently evolved out of ARPANET. Funding from the National Science Foundation in the eightiess

finally led to the Internet being opened to commercial traffic.

Servicess provided over the Internet include the World Wide Web, electronic mail ( the

most popular service ) , Newsgroups, and Chat. For one computing machine to pass on with another

computing machine on the Internet, both computing machines must be connected to the Internet. Connection to the

Internet can come from commercial online services or through Internet service suppliers.

By and large, place users connect to the Internet via the commercial online services over regular

phone lines. Some of these services include Prodigy, CompuServe, and America Online.

Businesss, universities, authorities bureaus, and the similar, frequently have direct connexion to an

Internet supplier over high-velocity digital lines. Some of these suppliers include Netcom and

PSI.1

The figure of grownups online in the United States by the terminal of 1998 has been estimated

every bit low as 44 million and every bit high as 80 million. 2 At the terminal of 1997, the figure of kids

online was about 10 million. It is estimated that by the twelvemonth 2002, 45 million kids will be

online.3 While it is non clear how many these kids have entree to the Internet at place, it is

clear what per centum of them have entree at school. Presently, approximately 81.8 % of all American

schools have the Internet. It is estimated by the terminal of the 1998-1999 school twelvemonth, about 95.9 %

of all American schools will be hooked up to the Internet.4

There are hazards to a kid that a parent should see before leting the kid to

entree the Internet. Some of the hazards include the followers:

1.Exposure to stuff that is sexual, hateful, or violent in nature and the possible

encouragement of illegal or unsafe activities.

2.The safety of a kid and/or a kid? s household could be compromised by the kid

supplying information or set uping to run into a individual they have met over the Internet.

3.A kid could be exposed, through electronic mail or chat/bulletin board messages, to

disturbing, take downing, or aggressive stuff.

4.Legal issues ensuing from a kid utilizing a parent? s recognition card or go againsting another

individual? s rights.5

Children? s entree to pornography on the Internet ( hazard # 1 ) is a concern of a batch of

parents. Pornography is defined as? 1.Pictures, composing, or other stuff that is sexually

explicit and sometimes equates sex with power and force. 2.The presentation or production

of this material. ? 6 Of class, that definition is from a standard lexicon. What is considered

adult normally depends on the persons judging the stuff.

Child erotica is prohibited in all 50 provinces. The general legislative act provinces that kid

erotica is comprised of the followers: ? 1 ) The creative activity or reproduction of stuffs

picturing bush leagues engaged in existent or fake sexual activity ( ? Sexual Exploitation of

Minor leagues? ) or 2 ) the publication or distribution of obscene, indecent, or harmful stuffs to

bush leagues. ? 7 These Torahs require the cognition that the individual in the stuffs and /or receiving

the stuff is a minor. Depending on the province, a child is either a individual under the age of 17 or

under the age of 18.

Even though the general legislative acts sing kid erotica would look to already

adequately cover the Internet, the Torahs in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia,

Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and

Virginia go farther. These Torahs include subdivisions refering the distribution of kid

erotica and/or the sale of erotica to bush leagues via computing machines or computing machine storage

devices. For illustration, Oklahoma prohibits bush leagues from having computing machine transmittals of

obscene or harmful stuff. The jurisprudence besides makes it illegal for obscene or harmful stuffs to

be sold, distributed or displayed to bush leagues through CD-ROMs, magnetic discs, and magnetic

tapes. 8

Attempts have been made by the Federal authorities to go through Torahs that would cover with

the issue of kids and/or Internet erotica. In 1996, the Communications Decency Act was

passed. Under this jurisprudence, the distribution of indecorous stuff on the Internet was made illegal.

Another jurisprudence, the Child Online Protection Act, pertains entirely to commercial Web sites and

focal points on stuff that could be damaging to bush leagues. Under this jurisprudence, a individual could non see

on-line stuff deemed harmful to bush leagues without first proofing his or her age. This cogent evidence

would come from the aggregation of a recognition card figure or entree codification. Peoples who violate the

jurisprudence could confront a upper limit of six months in gaol and be fined 50,000 dollars. The

Communications Decency Act of 1996 was struck down in 1997 on constitutional groun

Ds. The

Child Online Protection Act can non be presently enforced because a preliminary injunction

was issued against it on February 1, 1999.9

Two of the most popular topographic points for erotica to look on the Internet are the World

Wide Web and Usenet. The World Wide Web ( WWW ) is a world-wide system of computing machines

and files. Over the World Wide Web, users have entree to big measures of informations. This information

comes from beginnings including magazine archives, public and university library resources,

current universe and concern intelligence, and computing machine programs.10? Usenet is a worldwide web

of UNIX systems that has a decentralized disposal and is used as a bulletin board system

by special-interest treatment groups? is considered portion of the Internet? is composed of

1000s of newsgroups, each devoted to a peculiar subject. Users can post messages and read

messages from others in these newsgroups in a mode similar to users on dial-in BBSs. ? 11

For the intent of this paper, the figure of adult sites discussed will merely cover

with the commercial online porn industry, non any private sites that may incorporate adult

stuff. Presently, there are about 60,000 porn Web sites in the U.S.12 In 1994, of all

of the images posted on the Usenet, 83.5 % was adult. There were over 14,000

newsgroups ( bulletin boards ) on Usenet. Of those, 500 boards had either a primary focal point of

selling grownup adult stuff, or had adult subdivisions that were significant in size. While

500 grownup sites out of a sum of 14,000 may non look important, it should be known that 71 %

of the erotica on Usenet came from these sites.

While non acquiring into overly in writing item, the followers will briefly name the four

classs that Internet erotica falls into, along with a brief description of each class:

1.Paraphilla? clyster, micturition or piss, fecal matters of laxation, bestiality, fisting, individual

with chests and phallus, nappies or diapering, sadomasochism, foreign objects,

voyeurism

2.Pedo / hebephile- bare images of immature kids in pre-pubescence, immature looking

kids involved in hard-core sex Acts of the Apostless

3.Hard-core, ( non-paraphillic ) – homosexual and/or heterosexual sex and /or sexual

contact between two or more people

4. Soft-core- bare or semi-nude images that depict none of the Acts of the Apostless covered above

and masturbation13

For a kid to derive entree to some of the erotica listed above, it merely requires the

kid to hold a basic cognition of how behavior a proper hunt. In other words, if a kid

knows how to seek the Web or knows how to read Usenet newsgroups, he or she can

likely happen some type of erotica. This means that entree, for most kids wishing it,

should be comparatively easy.14

What has non been discussed is how easy it is for erotica to happen a kid non actively

seeking it. Knowledge of grownup sites can come through spamming. Spamming occurs when

100s of 1000s of e-mail references or newsgroups receive the same message all at one time.

Since this pattern is done with no respects to the content of the message or to who receives the

message, kids receive the same messages as adults.15The messages are non ever clearly

marked in the capable line as being suited for grownups merely. In fact, sometimes, the topic of

the message may look inexperienced person. For illustration, writer Lawrence Magid? s 11-year-old boy

received an e-mail with the topic? I Need Your Vote? . This e-mail message sounded guiltless

plenty, but in world, it led to a list of free grownups merely sites. Some of theses sites were

respectable, while others were big sites.

Up to this point, the Internet and erotica, individually and together, have been

discussed. Some feel that, while Torahs are non needed to maintain kids safe from Internet

erotica, parents should hold some other ways to protect their kids from Internet

erotica. Last, this paper will discourse two such ways that parents can protect their

kids from Internet erotica: Internet evaluation system/service, and monitoring and filtering

devices.

First, the usage of Internet evaluation systems/services will be discussed. To better understand

about Internet evaluations, some inquiries must foremost be answered. What precisely is a evaluation service?

A evaluation service can be individual, group, organisation, or company that provides content labels for

information on the Internet.What? s the difference between a evaluation service and a evaluation system?

A evaluation system is the existent procedure used for measuring the information. A evaluation system

normally has of one or more classs that is used to measure the informations. So, a evaluation service

would utilize a evaluation system to measure content.

Now that the difference between an Internet evaluation service and evaluation system is known, one

last inquiry must be answered: what is a content label? A content label is a information construction that

contains the information about a papers? s content. This label may be with the papers it

describes or be available by itself.

One of the tools used to implement evaluation systems is PICS. PICS stands for Platform for

Internet Content Selection. While non a evaluation system, PICS is really a model for evaluation

systems. It is general intent and can be tailored to command many types of content. Not merely

could the sexual content of a papers be rated, but practically any other sort of content could

besides be rated. For illustration, PICS could be used to rate the sum of hatred address that is

contained in a papers. 16

PICS is presently being used by some Internet evaluation services. One of these services is called

SafeSurf. It is a parents? organisation that has created a self-rating system.SafeSurf has many

different evaluation classs. The SafeSurf Identification Standard is recognized by the SafeSurf

Wave ( SS~~ ) . SafeSurf has the undermentioned evaluations classs that could use to erotica:

age scope ( SS~~000 ) , profanity ( SS~~001 ) , heterosexual subjects ( SS~~002 ) , homosexual

subjects ( SS~~003 ) , nakedness ( SS~~004 ) , and sex, force, profanity ( SS~~006 ) .

Each of these classs have values of 1 to 9. For illustration, the class age scope has the

following values and labels: value 1? all ages, value 2 & # 8211 ; older kids, value 3 & # 8211 ; younger teens,

value 4- older teens, value 5 & # 8211 ; adult supervising recommended, value 6- grownups, value 7- limited

to grownups, value 8 & # 8211 ; grownups merely, and value 9? explicitly for grownups. For the other classs, the

higher the value, the worse the rated content is.

A content label in SafeSurf can place all of the grownup subjects that a site may hold. The

following is an illustration of a SafeSurf content label that would look before or within the

354