Review:
This video is an ABC News Nightline program.
The early segment of the program gives a general
overview of the topic.
This portion includes comments from
Don Black, operator of the ``Storm Front'' web site,
Abraham Cooper, representative of the Simon Weisenthal Center,
Sky Dayton, CEO of the EarthLink ISP,
and John Paget, representative of a United Nations committee.
The later portion of the program consists of Ted Koeppel
interviewing Don Black, operator of the ``Storm Front''
site, and Floyd Abrams, an attorney
specializing in first amendment law.
This program presents a reasonable introduction to the issues of freedom of speech on the internet, without going into much technical detail. The general content of sites such as Black's is characterized, though with almost no specific examples. This may leave some viewers without an understanding of how extreme the content is. The general thrust of first amendment protections is adequately characterized, though there is little or no detail on the limits to thse protections. The nationality of free speech concepts is made clear, with reference to Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom as countries where Don Black's activities would be illegal. The problems involved with content filtering or blocking on the internet are discussed.
Overall, this should be a very usable video for the classroom. It introduces the major issues related to the topic. The instructor should be prepared to guide class discussion of the topic and provide (pointers to) additional detail. A worksheet is available for students to complete based on watching the video.
Video Format/Length:
This is a VHS video, about 22 minutes in length.
Ordering Information:
New information:
Video of this Nightline episode is also available direct from
ABC News. Go to the web page http://wwww.abcnewsstore.com/ and
keyword search on "Hate and the Internet." It is available for
$39.95 to individuals and $79.95 to institutions.
This video is available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences at a list
price of $89.95.
Films for the Humanities and Sciences
P.O. Box 2053
Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053
URL: www.films.com
It is catalog number BVL 9323.
phone number (800) 257-5126.
web address http://www.films.com/
The web page says ``Available only in the US and Canada.''