Internet Censorship
Does censorship violate the first amendment? This is one of the largest questions in Congress at the moment: whether or not to require blocking software in schools and libraries that receive government funding, cutting their funds if they do not. By law, all printed materials are protected from censorship due to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but does this include the Internet? Yes, it does and, therefore, blocking software companies, such as Solid Oak (makers of CYBERsitter) and N2H2 (makers of BESS), have been abusing their power and should not be used to control Internet access. Keyword blocking filters incoming html documents and web sites for certain key words that these companies have decided are not acceptable for minors. This does not allow access to those documents and sites that contain these words. This method prevents access to such sites as the Breast Cancer Legislation and The Vatican. In a study of average error rates due to keyword blocking done by Peacefire.org, the conditions of the study were as follows:Using "zone files" from Network Solutions (which list all .com domains in existence), we obtained a list of the first 1,000 active .com domains on the Internet as of June 14
Another example is the fact that BESS, another censorware company, blocks the Safer Sex Page, the anti-racists Hate Watch as well as the Marijuana Policy Project, a web site that advocates the use of medical marijuana. When reporters who try to reveal that information are faced with potential criminal investigations, the press's ability to shed light on these companies is threatened (Change). Blocking software companies are severely abusing their power of censorship and forcing their conservative view on their customers. Many filtering companies discriminate against gay, lesbian and non-mainstream religions. As a result of that letter, I was e-mail bombed by the software company and had my own two domains, thepagans. It can be used to build up or tear down. Over 200 years ago, our forefathers left a country that was based on censorship. A lady by the name of Sarah Salls received an emailbomb from Solid Oak and her web site, Thewitchs. com, and many other Wiccan and Pagan were blocked:This blocking came about as a result of an e-mail that I had written criticizing Solid Oak Software for blocking The National Organization for Women's website and ALL homosexual related sites including sites focused on gay rights and AIDS awareness. org/error-rates/>"Integrity Online.
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Emailbombed Wired,
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Organization Women's,
CYBERsitter N2H2,
Internet Censorship,
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