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The
government should have the right to control the Internet because
it is in the best interest of national security. Allowing the
government to control the Internet through information monitoring
and filtering procedures would help reduce so many crimes and
attacks because the Internet is such an integral part of modern
day life. Each day, millions and millions of people around the
world use the Internet for personal and professional reasons like
sending e-mails, communicating through instant messenger services,
and performing research for projects and papers.
Yet some people also use these Internet functions for malicious
reasons. Cyber
Terrorists are able to plan attacks via instant messaging
and e-mails. Sometimes school shootings are publicized on personal
web pages, like the two Columbine
shooters in 1999. Since the government has the ability to
prevent fatal terrorist and domestic attacks by gathering intelligence
through Internet filtering and monitoring, the government should
be able to control the Internet. The con side may argue that this
infringes on personal rights, but the right to live in a safer
world should be the most important right in light of everything
that is going on in the world today.
Internet crimes
are increasing every day, as more and more people become computer
literate. Organizations like the
West Coast Pirate’s Exchange and schools such as the
Intense School help individuals hone their hacking techniques,
giving them the potential to attack our national security. One
of the reasons a large scale effort to simultaneously attack the
computer networks of our economy sectors is that the technology
and wide spread communication ability is not yet present, but
the rapid change in technology of our modern age makes that threat
more of a reality. Such an attack could possibly cripple our nation,
but the American government has the ability to stop such an attack
from occurring. Internet regulation can only help the American
government protect our national and individual security.
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The government
should not be able to control the Internet because it is not very
plausible and also very unconstitutional. No one body or organization
would be able to control the Internet. The Net is simply too large
to control. The Internet encompasses the whole earth; how could
the American government presume to have the authority to control
every facet of the Internet, even if it was for the sake of world
peace. There is just no possible way for any government to be able
to control and filter the Internet usage of every citizen in a country.
It would be too large of a task to try and monitor all of the e-mails
sent in a day, or all of the conversations in every chat room across
the Web. In essence, trying to control the Internet would basically
be trying to control communication, and any attempt at that would
prove to be a waste of money and resources that could be better
spent elsewhere.
If the government did try to control the Internet, it would be a
direct violation of the 1st
amendment, the freedom of speech. The government cannot control
what people write to each other, it cannot control what people say
to each other. It would be unconstitutional and it would also be
an invasion of privacy. People may argue that the safety of the
nation takes precedent over the rights of individuals, but this
nation was founded by a constitution that guarantees personal rights
to every citizen. This country gained its independence by fighting
for those individual freedoms, such as the freedom of speech and
the freedom to bear arms. The safety of the nation does not have
to compromise the rights of an individual. There are many ways to
prevent terrorism, trying to control the Internet is just not one
of them. |
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When
people are pro or con on government involvement over Internet
security matters their views will have certain implications socially,
politically, and culturally.
Socially, if a person
takes the pro side on this issue it might give the public the
impression that this person is conservative and politically more
attuned to a Republican
view. The pie graph data on the survey of Notre Dame Students
gives good idea about people’s use of the Internet and their
views about government on the Internet. Majority of the students
surveyed that use the computer less than 10 hours a week believe
it is okay for government to control access to the Internet. They
do not lose much because they use the Internet less. They gain
security when they do use the Internet but many that use the internet
disagree with the pro view.
The con side socially might be viewed as the liberal aligned with
the view that less government involvement is better. These people
might also be politically labeled as Democrats.
In this view the freedom of speech is prevalent but many risks
come with this view. Having the web free of government allows
for criminals to exploit the insecure parts of the web. This may
give the internet unsafe status in the future. The con side can
give many people the ability to voice their opinions and views
free of repercussions no matter how obscene or blatant they are.
This may give the culture an open mind about a lot of things and
permits for optimal learning. Then again many might take it the
wrong way and children can be harmed by this freedom of speech.
The pro si de will make for a strict society where everyone is
afraid to state their views over the Internet. This could be problematic
for the internet cultures because many views over the Internet
will have to be watered down to meet government standards. |
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