Sex on the Internet

Created by pepe sa

Sex in the Net!

A social and ethical essay task, designed to provide students with a

Broader insight into both the Internet and computer ethics.

Since the beginning of time, men and women have fantasised over naked

bodies. Pornography has always been a part of life and yet it has never been so

readily available as what it is now. Erotic stories, explicit pictures, XXX-

rated films and modern day magazines, are all part of the stimulus material

which is known as "pornography" or as it is legally put, "obscenity." Is it

ethically right for our children to be looking at this erotic material at such

an early age? Do we have a twisted sense of morals if we support pornography? Or

is it just a natural part of life that should be nurtured and encouraged?

These questions and more are springing to peoples lips as we enter the

technological age. The age of the Internet. Never before has pornography been

so readily available. Through mail-order, at secret places around the schoolyard,

or simply down at the local newsagent or video store, pornography can be

purchased in any form or media. I know children, some as young as ten years,

who have an unlimited supply of pornography. They have been exposed to it from

an early age and it has become an addiction like smoking or drinking. Part of

the problem is that censorship laws are not enforced. Some newsagents will sell

a twelve year old, pornography, (legal age of 18) but will not sell them a

packet of cigarettes (legal age of 16 until June 1994). The obvious derivative

from this statement, is that fines and punishments for selling pornography to

underage persons, are not high enough. So why don't we raise them? The answer

to this question can be found on the screen of every computer in the world. The

Internet, or as one person put it, "The closest thing to true anarchy that has

ever existed."

How is one to censor the Internet when it is literally impossible? What

is the use of placing fines for copying pornography when it is impossible to

tell the age of the user. How can one even trace the user when there are

twenty-five billion members and it is impossible to follow them all. How can we

delete the pornography when a new batch arrives every day and it is impossible

to stop it.

Another point which makes censorship difficult is the fact that

censorship laws have only recently being required. In England for instance,

censorship laws have, for hundreds of years, concentrated on heretic materials,