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Well, yes, you say. Why should anybody be allowed to use such images in magazines, in museums, online, at all?  Someone should do something about people like these three punks that made this horrible, obscene web page that uses pictures like that where anyone could see them.  My mother was mortified seeing that picture!  Why don't we censor this kind of thing?

Well, no, you say.  Pffff.  It's art.  I see worse than that on CBS and in National Geographic!  Why would anybody be upset about that?  I mean, duh, we're all adults here, right?  And if we aren't, if there is some young innocent six year old soul, why are their parents not supervising their internet use?  Why would pictures like that be bother anyone?  Gees.  Why should we censor that?

Now, who is right?  Neither and both.  Is there a right? may be a more accurate question.  To truly understand the problem of censorship (and how complicated any solution will be) you need to understand the complexity of obscenity.  Obscenity is not just a bunch of punk freshman who think they're hot shots because every other word out of their mouth is four-letter.  Obscenity (let's go straight to Meriam Webster's for a definition) is:

    1.  disgusting to the senses : REPULSIVE   2. a : abhorrent to morality or virtue; specifically : designed to incite to or depravity
        b : containing or being language regarded as taboo in polite usage <obscene lyrics>
        c : repulsive by reason of crass disregard of moral or ethical principles <an obscene misuse of power>
        d : so excessive as to be offensive <obscene wealth> <obscene waste>

There are things available on the internet that are fairly universally considered inappropriate or obscene.  One reaction to these things, is that we should censor them.  To censor something is to look at it more closely, in order to determine whether or not it is obscene, and most often to ban it if it is.  Few things are actively censored here in America, due to the First Amendment to the Constitution.  You may have heard it.  It goes a little something like this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Any law to amend free speech online must be able to pass by the Supreme Court and be found not to violate the First Amendment.  But, does the government need to try to regulate the internet?  Can the online community regulate itself?

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