The Internet: Few Rules and No Ethics

2549 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Child porn online

Laws regulate what we do in our everyday life. These rules, however can not keep up with technology. Laws existing to regulate the internet are few and difficult to enforce. A crackdown on internet misuse has begun with the creation of filtering software and the prosecutions of internet offenders. Issues such as child pornography and seducing children over the internet, the downloading and manipulation of copyrighted files and images, and the sharing or accessing of people’s private and personal information are just some of the ethical challenges we face in cyberspace.

According to Maxwell Taylor and Ethel Quayle in “Child Pornography: An Internet Crime”, individuals who are involved in the world of internet child pornography are escaping from their real world lives. The two authors interviewed 13 different convicted offenders in order to understand what happens in this fantasy world and why so many are being lured in (victims, as well as offenders). Through their many conversations they discovered that there is a kind of community created over the internet. One where adult males (and a few adult females) collect and trade pictures of kids and teenagers (of all ages, sometimes including babies) who are posing nude or even involved in any sexual act with an adult. Most of these images are used for personal sexual gratification. There are some who use them like money to get more of these kinds of images, and like money in the physical world, the more you have the higher you are in status. The internet makes their interest readily available, giving them access to this kind of information in massive amounts and in seconds. This underground world becomes an addiction, and often leads to interaction w...

... middle of paper ...

...ng doing, that there is harm being caused, and that they are responsible for their actions is, in my opinion, the first step that needs to be taken to solve this ethical dilemma.

Works Cited

Taylor, Maxwell and Ethel Quayle. Child Pornography: An Internet Crime. New York:

Brunner & Routledge, 2003.

Williamson, Larry and Eric Pierson. The Rhetoric of Hate on the Internet: HatePorn’s

Challenge to Modern Media Ethics. Journal of Mass Media Ethics. Volume 18, pp.256-267.

Tompkins, Paula S. Truth, Trust, and Telepresence. Journal of Mass Media Ethics.

Volume 18, pp.194-212.

Kitross, Michael John and A. David Gordon. The Academy and Cyberspace Ethics. Journal of Mass Media Ethics. Volume 18, pp. 286-307.

Nissenbaum, Helen. Hackers and the Contested Ontology of Cyberspace. New Media

and Society. April 2004 volume 16, pp. 195-217.

Show More
Related

  • Child Pornography: Child Sexual Exploitation

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    The internet provides ground for individuals to create, access, and share child sexual abuse images world wide at the click of abutton. Child pornography images are readily available through virtually every Internet technology including website, email, instant messaging.

    Read More

  • Sexting Law Reform

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s American society, almost everyone, even children as young as six, owns a cell phone with a camera. Although convenient, camera phones also open the door to massive problems concerning child pornography that stem from sexting, or sending nude or lascivious photos. According to a 2010 Federal Bureau of Investigation survey1 of 4,400 middle and high school students, “approximately eight percent of students reported that they had sent a sext of themselves to others while thirteen percent said they had received a sext.” The main problem with sexting, aside from being child pornography if it is a picture of minor, is the ease of dissemination of the sext to other contacts or even the Internet. The United States alone has seen several students commit suicide after a sext intended for one person’s eyes goes viral or is sent to the entire high school. Such was the case of Ohio high school student, Jesse Logan, who sent nude photos to her boyfriend who then sent them to other students who harassed her until she committed suicide.2

    Read More

  • Federal Restrictions on the Internet

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kids from the ages 10-17 who use the internet are exposed to very graphic sexual content (Gonzales). Essentially, every inappropriate picture or video you see of a child had a horrific story to go along with it. “They are images of graphic sexual and physical abuse-rape, sodomy and forced oral sex-of innocent children, sometimes even babies.” Said Gonzales. With technology improving, it is harder to do have consequences for people who commit a crime; they could clean out their hard drive and never be caught. Therefore, there should be stricter federal restrictions for the content on the Internet because of cybercriminals, internet pedophiles, and cyber bullying. (Gonzales)

    Read More

  • Censoring Pornography on the Internet

    433 Words  | 1 Pages

    The internet was created for the cold war, in the event that the U.S. were attacked, there would be no communication among the nations leaders, because traditional communication would be disrupted by a nuclear blast. Since that time, the internet survived only though commercialization, the original form of the internet was scrapped when the cold war ended. Now, with this medium in the hands of anyone who wants to pay for service, the Internet has exploded with controversial materials that some people think should be censored. When I started this project, I asked the question should the Internet be regulated and if so, how and why? First we'll look at why the Internet needs regulation, Then how would our government go about doing so? There are several issues that are controversial with the internet. There is pornography, racism, and hate material floating around out there that is accessiable to children all too easily. For the purposes of this paper, I will only discuss the pornography issue, since talking about all of the censorship issues would take more than a short research paper to discuss.

    Read More

  • America Needs Internet Censorship

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tears begin to fall down a child’s face. Her body goes into shock out of fear. Her mother warned her about watching inappropriate content, and there it was, right on her computer screen. This could not have happened though. All she was doing was casually browsing the internet before a pop-up appeared. Although it may seem hard to believe, the major cause of events such as this is the lack of censorship on the internet. Internet censorship relates to the removal of offensive, inappropriate, or controversial content published online. The current problem with the internet is that there are few restrictions on what can be published or viewed. Several sites on the internet only offer a warning about inappropriate content that can easily be bypassed by agreeing to the terms. Other websites provide access to private or military information. More dreadfully, however, are websites that use their explicit content as a promotion. These factors bring the conclusion that anybody of any given age can view and publish inappropriate or dangerous content. The current problems with the internet serve for clarification as to why the United States should create a nonpartisan assembly to censor the internet in order to protect its citizens from the mental, emotional, and physical harms the internet creates.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Internet Censorship

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    Internet is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and interact with others all over the world conveniently and relatively safely. It has allowed education and trade to be accessed easily and quickly, but all these benefits do not come without very taxing costs. This is especially true when dealing with the likes of the Internet. Countries in the European Union and Asia have realized this and have taken action against the threat of net neutrality to protect their citizens, even at the cost of online privacy. Internet censorship is required to protect us from our opinions and vices. Every country should adopt Internet censorship and regulation since it improves society by reducing pornography, racism/prejudice, and online identity theft.

    Read More

  • Essay on Internet Privacy - Ethical Issues Raised by Privacy Service Providers

    2877 Words  | 6 Pages

    Abstract:  This paper examines the use of Internet technologies (specifically SafeWeb.com) to counteract invasions of personal privacy and censorship.  The paper begins by exploring the methods by which governments, corporations, and commercial agents invade personal privacy.  It also discusses Internet censorship on the corporate and governmental levels.  It then proceeds to discuss SafeWeb.com, a technology that allows Internet users to surf the Web privately and view censored content.  The paper finishes by exploring some of the ethical issues raised by Internet privacy and censorship in specific relation to SafeWeb, concluding that the application of SafeWeb in circumventing the authority of governments and corporations is inherently unethical.

    Read More

  • Should The Government Be Able To Regulate The Internet

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    "In this Technological Age, the role of the government in regulating the internet and its content has increasingly been coming into question. The issue is often between how much the government can be involved for the safety of its citizens while still maintaining their privacy. Federal, state, and local governments should have the ability to monitor internet content for the safety and protection of its citizens, but governments should not be able to interfere and limit the spread of information.

    Read More

  • Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace

    2103 Words  | 5 Pages

    As the Internet has become more widely recognized and used by people all over the world, it has brought a new medium in which information can very easily be broadcast to everyone with access to it. In 1995 there was a projected 26 million Internet users, which has grown to almost 300 million today. One major problem with this is that everyone represents different countries and provinces which have different outtakes on certain types of freedom of speech as well as different laws about it. This proposes a new type of law that would need to be written in order to determine whether or not something is illegal on the Internet. A person in one country can express what they want to, but that expression may be illegal in another country and in this situation whose laws are to be followed? What I propose to do accomplish in this paper is to discuss the freedom of speech laws of the United States of America and those of France, China, and Canada. I will examine what about them is similar and what about them is different. The bringing of the Internet has brought many new types of businesses as well as ways in order to communicate with the world, but as with each new endeavor or invention, there needs to be a way in order to govern its use and policies. There must also be ways in order to punish those not following the new laws and policies of use, since that the country that the person is in may allow what they did, but it may not be allowed on the Internet or in a different country. In other words, there is the need for international laws governing the Internet.

    Read More

  • Regulating the Internet

    2312 Words  | 5 Pages

    The internet has been one of the most influential technological advancements of the twenty-first century. It is in millions of homes, schools, and workplaces. The internet offers not only a way of communicating with people around the world, but also a link to information, shopping, chatting, searching, and maps. This freedom to be anyone and to "go" anywhere right from the comfort of home has become a cherished item. However, there is always a down side to every up. Because of the freedom to post anything and access anything on the internet, the issue of regulation has arisen; for example, what should and should not be allowed on the internet? Who has the right to regulate this space that we cherish for its freedom?

    Read More

  • The Importance of Legal and Ethnical Standards for Technology

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyday millions of people are using the Internet. The Internet gives people the freedom to look up and download a variety of information. But where is the line drawn to determine how far someone is allowed to go when using the Internet? Laws and regulations for the Internet are just as important as they are in everyday life. Netiquette, Acceptable Use Policies, and Copyright laws are exceptionally vital when using the Internet.

    Read More

  • Lack of Internet Security and Privacy

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Internet privacy and security has become the concern of many individuals throughout recent years. There are a very limited amount of laws that have been enacted to combat computer or cyber related crimes. This has become an issue because as the internet grows increasingly popular so does the criminal and immoral behavior that abounds on it. With these crimes gaining in impact, effectiveness, and frequency, there needs to be more repercussions for these crimes. The United States government needs to increase restrictions on the amount and type of data on individuals from the internet, to prevent the government from invading privacy of citizens and to prevent companies from storing browser histories of individuals, to then sell that information to ad agencies and other companies.

    Read More

  • The Fight Against Child Pornography

    2328 Words  | 5 Pages

    In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

    Read More

  • Internet Censorship: Is It Really Necessary?

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Internet is an extremely educational and communicative tool. Everyone can access a tremendous amount of information and connect with people on the other end of the planet; it is capable of doing everything. Nowadays, the society is facing a variety of challenges and controversies which are mostly related to religion, morality, the economic crisis, etc., and the most talked-about issue in today’s world is “Internet censorship”. Although the Internet is very useful, many people are suggesting the idea of censoring the Internet; however, the government should not censor the Internet because a free and open Internet usage has many positive impacts on people’s lives.

    Read More

  • Cyberspace Essay

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    While some observers see these developments as signs of the impending ‘end of privacy’ and the rise of ‘surveillance society’ (Castells, 2001; Lyon, 2001), others point to the insufficiency and, ultimately, the futility of governmental interference in cyberspace. The Internet has, right from the beginning, challenged conventional notions of policing and sovereignty which are inevitably linked with territoriality; also this challenge is coming from multiple directions, most important from transnational organized crime. The problem of governing a global space is magnified in cyberspace because, here, social interaction is free from the constrictions of physical space. As illustrated by the case of child pornography, the victim and the offender may be located in different countries. Unlike most ‘real world’ crimes, cybercrime does not require physical proximity between the victim and the offender. The lack of ‘physical’ evidence and the lack of spatial connections make these types of crimes especially difficult to investigate (Brenner, 2007). Policing of the Internet marks an important shift from the policing of territory to the ‘policing of suspect populations’ (Sheptycki, 2002a). Information and communication technologies fundamentally transform the very way in which policing is practiced. Policing cyberspace not only demands inter-governmental intervention, but also needs to organize a number of responsibilization policies on the part of the users of Internet and the service providers. The idea of ‘plural policing’ and the diffusion of regulatory tasks is therefore one of the hallmarks of cyber-governance (Jewkes, 2003).

    Read More

More about The Internet: Few Rules and No Ethics

Open Document