Sex, laws, and cyberspace

Description

Sex, Laws, and Cyberspace addresses the legal issues and ethical debates surrounding the explosive worldwide growth of the Internet and commercial online services. The same qualities that make these networks invaluable - low-cost worldwide reach, lack of censorship, interactivity, virtual anonymity, and the ability to carry huge amounts of data, text, images, and sounds - also makes them potentially dangerous. In deciding how to regulate this global network, it must first be defined. Should the law and society treat it as a broadcast medium (like TV), a communications common carrier (like phone companies), or a print medium (like a newspaper or magazine)? Or do we need to throw out the privileges all these older media enjoy and police the online world more stringently? The pressure on the government to regulate these electronic impulses is tremendous, and the implications of their judicial and legislative decisions will be far-reaching. From Postal Inspectors to the FBI and from civic statutes to the Senate's Communications Decency Act, the role of online watchman is up for grabs. Sex, Laws, and Cyberspace examines these battles and includes interviews with key players in both pro- and anti-regulation camps. The authors offer a spirited defense of the freedoms now under fire, and suggest ways to monitor the 'net without stifling it. Additional information, source listings, and updates can be found on the World Wide Web site established by the authors at www.spectacle.org/freespch/. Further discussion on the topics raised in the book will also be centered on this site.

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