An Internet Article Review

Hamilton, Angus. “The Net Out of Control - A New Moral Panic: Censorship and Sexuality.” Liberating Cyberspace: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and the Internet. Ed. The National Council for Civil Liberties. London: Pluto Press, 1999. 169-187.

In this article, Hamilton sets out to discredit the popular beliefs about the internet and the laws that affect the use of it. The article is broken up into four sections, each attacking popular culture's belief in common myths about the internet and it's regulation. Myth one is concerned with the belief that the internet is strewn with offensive material. Although it is true that the internet contains pornographic material of all types, including child pornography, approximately only .002% of all newsgroups contain pornographic images of any kind. It also must be pointed out that in almost all cases, offensive material must be searched for by the user in order for it to appear on the screen. Rarely is there a case where the offensive material appears without the consent of the user.

In myth two, the author addresses the myth that the law is unable to act upon the internet because of the way it was designed. A history of laws set to prevent child abuse and obscene acts are quoted and are often used in cases concerning the internet. Three separate case studies are presented. The first study researched the history of policing the internet. A laundry list of lawsuits and criminal cases are mentioned as evidence of the law taking affect.

Myth three is that nothing on the internet can be safe. It is true that there is some truth to this myth, but technologies quick advancements into a more secure age cannot be disregarded as false advertisement. There are also laws concerning the safety and security of private information held by companies whose databases are integrated with the internet.

Finally, myth 4 has to deal with the notion that all other countries are advancing quickly to regulate the internet while the UK, "dawdles." This part of the article is mostly concerned with a local notion, but some shades of this myth can be seen throughout the world in different forms. The article goes into detail over the proactive United States regulations such as the Communications Decency Act (1996) when it became illegal for someone to present offensive material to a minor. In comparison, the UK method of policing the decency of the internet, they prefer to force the user to self regulate themselves.

--Joshua Winn