Regulation and the Internet: Government Regulation & Surveillance
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- The_Netizen
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more from News:
http://cyberdiss.blogspot.com/2009/04/regulation-and-internet-governm...
While most Internet users (myself included) would prefer to have the Internet be free and unregulated, many politicians, organizations, and even governments are proponents of imposing stricter Internet laws and restrictions. And when I say 'governments', I am not just speaking of authoritarian China or any other State that has imposed limitations on freedom of speech on their citizens. No, I'm speaking of the United States of America.Every mass communications medium in this country faces some form of censorship and regulation or another. And if they are being regulated by the U.S. government, then they are being regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC is a government agency, established by the Communications Act of 1934, with jurisdiction over the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
Radio stations require a license from the FCC to broadcast on the public airwaves, or they face a serious fine. Television is also regulated by certain limitations from the FCC on what can be put on screen at certain times of the day, depending on when children will most likely be watching. Both industries can get around the FCC, however. Services like satellite radio and pay-per-view on cable are subscription-based, which means that regulation by the FCC is much looser. This is because children will be less likely to view questionable content.
FCC regulations are almost entirely based on restricting profanity, sex, violence, and any material that could be considered offensive to children and families. In the U.S., the protection of children from harmful material, national security purposes, and identity protection are the strongest arguments for government regulation of communications. It is also for these reasons, 'national security' being the most prominent, that these regulations are being translated over to the Internet. But how successful can these attempts be, while still remaining constitutional?
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((For the rest of my article, please visit the link above where the complete story is. For more of the 'Regulation and the Internet' series, visit my blog at cyberdiss.blogspot.com))
Signed,
The Netizen
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- tags:
- News, Current TV, Technology, Law, 7 more
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abipolarmind
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The internet must be protected the same way as the print media. Anything and everything gets printed. The 9th Amendment says there are 'unenumerated rights' and the privacy of what you do on the internet must be one of these. (Google is a whole different story)
- 10 months ago
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abipolarmind
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ayashe
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They've been trying to do it for years, which is why I support net neutrality like every internet user should.
- 10 months ago
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ayashe
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Agorful
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Governments always find ways to pervert such technology and use it against the people. That's no surprise to those of us who have been paying attention to such things since, say, forever!
Don't fret, this too shall pass.
- 10 months ago
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Agorful
