The Internet, often referred to as the NET, is a general purpose, international communication and information system. Once you have access to the Net, there are many things you can do. You can send and receive messages, access a great deal of information, and participate in ongoing discussions with people all over the world. You can also play games, look at pictures, listen to music, watch videos, chat with people, go shopping, and find lots of free programs for your computer. The Internet is a complex collection of resources (Harley Hahn Teaches the Internet, 1998 p. 2)
The Internet was originated in the late 1960s by the federal government’s Pentagon Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). This group began developing an experimental computer network aimed at withstanding a military attack. The Internet provided a medium for communications between universities, researchers and the government.
Within the past ten years, the Internet has grown exponentially. It has changed the way people communicate and the way many businesses do business. The Internet gave birth to e-commerce and opened the commercial world to small and home based businesses. The Internet has made what we thought of as an already efficient world even more efficient, at least in some ways.
I compare the explosion of the Internet to the “Wild West,” a time when people made their own laws. Today, as the Internet continues to develop, there are very few laws regarding this new phenomenon. In a way, the Internet and society as a whole are in the same type of exploratory environment as the “Wild West” once was.
The legal terrain of the Internet and its boundaries are still being defined and tested. New boundaries are being explored and the limits are unknown. Because the Internet is so new and its widespread use was not as anticipated, laws to protect a person’s privacy are not in place. Innumerable legal controversies relating to the Internet are beginning to surface.
For example, the expansive reach of the Internet has spurred a new debate over the individual’s right to privacy. The debate surrounds our right to choose whether personal information collected over the Internet can be disclosed. The debate also concerns our right to know how, when, and how much of our personal information is being collected, who is collecting it, and how it is being used.
An Electronic Bill of Rights for this electronic age is a key government initiative. The Electronic Privacy Information Center has called for legislation to enact privacy policies for the Internet. Several pending bills (E-Privacy Act, Data Privacy Act, and Consumer Internet Privacy Act) would regulate Internet activity in the name of privacy (Law for Business and Personal Use, 2000 p. 40).
US Constitution and Bill of Rights
What makes the United States Constitution the most influential document of its kind in the history of the world?
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The U.S. Constitution created the United States of America
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The U.S. Constitution included a Bill of Rights
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The U.S. Constitution is a working document
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The U.S. Constitution created a system of checks and balances
When the United States Constitution was written in the late 1780’s, our founding fathers (and perhaps mothers) feared that future violations of our fundamental rights by a strong central government would still be possible. The citizens of our new country-to-be felt the document was incomplete. They would not vote for the Constitution until they were guaranteed a certain “Bill of Rights”.
The Bill of Rights, the common name for the first 10 amendments, completed the Constitutional framework that provided protection from possible intrusion from the federal government. The U.S. Constitution with the Bill of Rights has been our legal guide and protector from the abuses of power and government.
Fortunately, the fifty-five delegates who drafted the U.S. Constitution wrote it as a living and working document, allowing for changes to be made as necessary. The founding fathers had great foresight in doing so. The U.S. Constitution provided the legislative branch of our government and the people the power to amend our constitution when necessary.
The U.S. Constitution created a system of checks and balances. This means that equal authority is given to the three basic branches of government: the judicial, the executive and the legislative. Warren E. Burger, former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, pointed out that, “there was no country in the world that governed with separated and divided powers providing checks and balances on the exercise of authority by those who governed” (Law for Business, 1993 p. 6,7)
By studying the Communications Decency Act (1996), students will see how the system of checks and balances is put to work to protect and uphold the Constitution and individual rights. The CDA 1996, which was passed by our legislative branch, was found unconstitutional in 1997 by our judicial branch.
The U.S. Constitution and the Internet are still trying to find their place together. The Internet is a land without boundaries. The Internet at times is an institution without regard for law. The U.S. Constitution is a framework which must be preserved to provide continuing structure to protect its people. The Internet is a society which still needs to be tamed. The questions are to what degree and how.