Indecent Proposal
...e Protection Act attempted to narrowly define what was to be banned. Again, however the courts found the Act to be too broad. The author of "Indecent Proposals" appears to be sympathetic with the concern by Congress to protect children but does not believe that Congress has the right to violate the First Amendment. There are, I believe, other ways in which this problem can be solved than by government restrictions on the Internet. It is the ultimate responsibility of the parents, not the government, to regulate what their children view on the Internet. Much of what is disagreeable to Congress relates to the distribution of pornography to children by business. Although I also find this unacceptable, I do not believe the Internet should be regulated in the same way that government regulates television. This medium has too many possibilities to put blanket restrictions on the sale of legal items. A perfect example of a business that would most likely be restricted under the Communication Decency Act is a modern art site that sells paintings that are sexually explicit. Although I may not want my child viewing some questionable pieces of modern art, I do not think that sweeping restrictions by government are good for business as a whole on the Internet. The author mentions one particular example of a child "downloading pornographic images to a disk through an Internet connection at his local library." This child then gives these images out to his friends. This is an unfortunate incident; however, like the author notes, "a national decency law is not the only way to go." The author correctly concludes that filters, not regulation of business, should be used by parents and by public institutions to block sites that are not meant for the eyes of children. With the advancement of filter software there will be no need for the government to impose restrictions on the constantly changing business medium that is the Internet. These software filters would block certain web sites that contain sexually explicit phrases in the header or in the web site itself. Service providers like AOL also have set up filters to give parents the ability to block sites that are not meant for children. Many people raise the issue of child pornography as an example of why the Internet should be regulated. However, child pornography is already a crime and is dealt with severally by various state and federal agencies. A large sting operation took place in Marin County a number of mont...