.: Censorship and Pornography
Introduction
Over the years access to information has
increased as more and more people contribute to the internet. Whether it is useful information, such as
statistics, reviews, or other content like games and videos, information is
easily accessible via the web. But
what about information and substance that is inappropriate, such as
pornography, racism, and sites that promote death. The world does not need this sort of
material on the internet. Censorship has been requested and applied by
governments, schools and libraries.
Countries
all over have laws about internet browsing, however some do not. For instance, the USA attempted to pass the
Communications Decency Act, which is an act allowing pornography to be
regulated over the internet, was struck down by the Supreme
Court(http://www.hri.ca/doccentre/docs/guzman.shtml). In Cuba, internet access is
limited to academic institutions, government agencies, diplomatic missions,
some businesses, foreign journalists because they will not let the internet
destabilize their country’s security
(http://www.hri.ca/doccentre/docs/guzman.shtml). China has probably imposed the
strictest controls on the internet over any other country.
China’s networks are subject to close
supervision by government agencies because of fear of easy access to
dissenting materials. In China, it
is illegal to make, recreate, retrieve, transmit materials which: provokes unlawful
activity, overthrowing the government, dividing the country, provocation of
hatred or discrimination, spreading rumors, promoting violence, murder, or
sexually suggestive
material(http://www.hri.ca/doccentre/docs/guzman.shtml). In Vietnam the government only allows
basic link for e-mail traffic - real time access is restricted (http://www.hri.ca/doccentre/docs/guzman.shtml).
Those
are some examples of some countries who are taking affect, whether big
steps or small steps towards the information that is attainable by the
public. Internet access to
pornography is extremely easy to attain, even by accident. Although there
is only 3% of all public sites are sexually explicit web sites, over half
of Canadian kids say they have visited a site accidentally through search
engines, wrong click, email, instant messaging, links in forums or using
file sharing software that distributes pornographic images and
videos(http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/wa_teachers/safe_passage_teachers/risks_pornography.cfm).
Even though a country may ban it, like Australia, records show that
84% of boys, and 60% of girls have been exposed to
this(http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/wa_teachers/safe_passage_teachers/risks_pornography.cfm).
This shows us that even by accident we can view information that is
inappropriate, so how easy could something be found on the internet when
someone is intentionally searching?
Viruses
Viruses are all over the internet, and
you don’t know where to find them. A virus copy’s itself without the user
knowing, or the user’s acknowledgment
(http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/intro_viruses_what.mspx).
It can be as simple as ad ware/spy ware which happens while browsing for
information, and pop-ups keep coming up, or something severe that destroys
your computer by deleting your files and shutting your computer down.
Viruses can be stopped or can become less frequent by getting an anti viral
program, and update it often. This way, any threats attacking your computer
will be prevented from entering the computer. There are pop up blockers to
keep your attention away from distractions, even in most browsers. If you notice your computers
functionality becoming slower, it could be because of a virus, so that is a
good sign to run a viral scan. As
long as there is easy access to information, there is also easy access to
viruses.
Loop Hole to
Censorship Programs
The
funny thing is, there is a way around this, a way that even in a country
like china where some information is unavailable due to the blocking of it
by the government, you are still able to access the sites. The creator, Ronald Deibert, calls it
"Censorship Circumvention", the program is called Psiphon.
Psiphon works like this: you download Psiphon and it enables you run a
secure, encrypted server (A computer that delivers information and software
to other computers linked by a network that is coded in a way to attempt to
preserve someone’s confidentiality)(www.google.ca/definitions) (or node) in
the private network. Whoever has this software, now a server, will send
family and friends a URL which would allow those in banned countries access
to a web browser without restriction.
When the receiving end gets the address, which doesn’t look like a
normal www URL, instead the URL is containing numbers. All a person has to do is find a computer
where they can enable the internet.
People in that block internet access can send encrypted requests for
information to your computer and receive encrypted information back. It’s encrypted so the information being
viewed can’t be traced, be it by the government or someone else
(http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/02/0e7301c1-988c-449f-a932-401c83d8045e.html). It does not seem fair to the governments
trying to control what is viewed by the public, which they are protecting.
Plagiarism
Another
problem with easy access is a problem of people plagiarizing due to the
access to information. For instance,
educational instructors want their students to learn, and write an essay to
help students develop thinking, writing and communication skills. A
student, however, can copy and paste other peoples work because the easy
access of information, a true education cannot be achieved. There are also websites that allow you to
buy pre-written essays for school. Although they do have sites to help
prevent this, such as www.turnitin.com, the only problem is not everyone
can afford it.
Easy
access to videos and games on the internet can also be a bad thing. People can easily pirate and share
pirated videos and games, harming gaming, music, and movie companies who
spend time and money into making these CD’s, DVD’s, whether it be videos,
music CD’s, or gaming CD’s. All it
takes for someone to get programs, movies or music for free is to download
it onto their computer because everyone is just a few clicks away from
almost anything that they want online the World Wide Web. Statistics show that due to piracy $1841 million is lost. $1012
million is lost because no one needs the DVD’s anymore, because they have a
burned copy, $623 million is lost because people do not need to go to the
movies anymore when they have the movie at home already, and $167 million
is lost because no one needs to rent the movies, because they already have
the movies. When people sell illegal
copies on the street, they gain a profit of $626 million between everyone
who does it. “The IPSOS survey shows that one in four people
(12 million people) have watched a pirate DVD in the last 12 months, 45% of whom would have paid to see the original
release.”( http://www.piracyisacrime.com/bigissue/piracy.php) This tells us
that even though people go to the movies, 55% of people who have seen it
don’t go and pay for the movie, they’d rather download it and watch it for
free. Do people not understand what
theft is? According to an
independent survey by research company OTX in September 2005, 56% of 15+
year olds who don’t download pirated movies say they don’t do it because it
is illegal(http://www.piracyisacrime.com/bigissue/piracy.php).
What
about those who choose not to see a movie, because they can download it, or
they don’t have the money, or come up with excuses? What is the difference
from stealing a car because they can steal it, or they don’t have the money
for one or another excuse? It’s the same thing. The only difference between
the two is that police can track down a car a lot easier than catching an
online downloader. The risks are lower, and the chances of getting away are
a lot higher for downloading. What are we teaching youth by allowing this
to take place? We are teaching them that it is ok to take something you
want, if you cant afford it or do not think its worth buying. But what
about those who put money into movies to make them, who puts time into it
to make it, and hires people that he now has to pay off to make it? That is
where the stealing is being taken from. There should be a banning on
torrent sites, although it may be useful, and it may help people out who
wish not to spend 500$ on a program software, 20$ on a music CD, or rent a
movie for 5$, but it is still theft, and this shouldn’t be taught to youth.
[Back to Top]
Web site contents © Copyright Team One
2007, All rights reserved.
Website templates
|
