are using the RSA encryption system freely, allowing citizens to encode and transmit whatever they want. Some others, like Italy, have banned the encryption outright. The US government has introduced legislation that would ban the use of such encryption unless the users furnished the government with the key. The key would be broken into two parts and held by two separate government agencies. When both agreed that there was just cause, they could assemble the key code and use it to intercept and decode suspect communications.
             During the past decade, our society has become based solely on the ability to move large amounts of information across large distances quickly. Computerization has influenced everyone's life. The natural evolution of computers and this need for ultra-fast communications has caused a global network of interconnected computers to develop. This global net allows a person to send E-mail across the world in mere fractions of a second, and enables even the common person to access information worldwide. With advances such as software that allows users with a sound card to use the Internet as a carrier for long distance voice calls and video conferencing, this network is key to the future of the knowledge society. At present, this net is the epitome of the first amendment: free speech. It is a place where people can speak their mind without being reprimanded for what they say, or how they choose to say it. The key to the worldwide success of the Internet is its protection of free speech, not only in America, but also in other countries where free speech is not protected by a constitution. To be found on the Internet is a huge collection of obscene graphics, Anarchists' cookbooks and countless other things that offend some people. With over 30 million Internet users in the U.S. alone (only 3 million of which surf the net from home), everything is bound to offend someone. The newest wave of laws floating thro...