Cyberspace and the Constitution

1152 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Internet regulations

Cyberspace and the Constitution

Cyberspace is a new frontier for American courts. In the past, when faced with new situations, courts have analogized older laws into the new situations. However, due to the many unique qualities of the Internet, courts have had a difficult time determining how to apply prior law in the realm of cyberspace. In the United States, the ultimate framework of our laws is the United States Constitution. The Constitution, and most especially the Bill of Rights, has entered arenas that the founders could not have imagined. Today, courts know that they must apply the constitution to cyberspace, but the question remains: how is it to be applied? The District Court in U.S. v. Pataki devised an interesting solution to the constitutional problems of cyberspace, by using the Commerce Clause in a situation where at first blush, the First Amendment would seem to be the constitutional provision to apply.

The issue in Pataki was whether a New York statute criminalizing the use of a computer to disseminate obscene material to minors was constitutional. The statute criminalized sending sexual material to minors that was "harmful to minors." The statute defined material as "harmful to minors" if it 1) Considered as a whole, appealed to the puritant interest in sex of minors; 2) Was patently offensive to prevailing adult community standards with respect to what is suitable material to minors; and 3) Considered as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for minors. Essentially, this is the Miller obscenity test, devised by the Supreme Court, applied to minors.

Although the statute was modeled after the Miller test, it still faces First Amendment concerns. First, what are "pr...

... middle of paper ...

...upply this, since they would run afoul of the Commerce Clause, as did New York in Pataki. Thus, Congress must provide the legislation. Furthermore, since the Internet is international, this legislation must stem from international treaties.

This is a lot to ask, and many people are concerned about "Big Brother" controlling our communications, and they argue that the Internet should be free to regulate itself. However, there must be regulation on the Internet. The Internet allows the freest mode of expression in human history. Anyone is a publisher. With this great freedom, comes great responsibility. The framers of the Constitution never imagined the Internet, but they did imagine principles which should continue to guide us into the electronic frontier. Principles of the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment must continue to apply in the realm of cyberspace.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Miller Test

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Illinois, the constitutional position on obscene material has not changed. The Miller Test, with the revised third prong has remained unaltered and obscenity prosecutions have continued in steady decline from 1990. The dispute and definition of obscenity still persist but with the lack of Supreme Court attention to such matters it development is unlikely. Perhaps the law of obscenity ought to be reexamined and defined to create a more constructive standard. Or, just as feasibly, it could be considered that a unanimous, objective standard is unattainable as Justice Stevens stated in his dissent “De gustibus non est disputandum. Just as there is no arguing about taste, there is no use litigating about

    Read More

  • The Supreme Court

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case that I chose to analyze is Reno v. ACLU. It is the first Internet related U.S. Supreme Court case ever to be decided. Seven of the justices found the argued provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) were unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The court found that the Internet is similar to a shopping mall or library not a broadcast medium as the government refered to it. The majority opinion for this case was that the Internet is a unique marketplace for ideas. The ruling states that while there is a large amount of pornographic material out there, it normally isn’t come across on accident. They stated that the CDA already holds back a good amount of speech that is alright for adult to adult conversations, which they do have a constitutional right to receive. While they recognize the CDA efforts to protect children from harmful speech and pornographic material, it still does not justify the unnecessarily broad suspension of speech. The final outcome was that they found that what the CDA was trying to do would violate speakers messages who are rightfully protected under the First Amendment.

    Read More

  • The Constitutional Principle of Separation of Church and State

    1636 Words  | 4 Pages

    Proponents of a highly limited separation of church and state often argue that America’s founding fathers would be appalled at the extent to which the Judeo...

    Read More

  • Church-State Relations in America

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    In summary, I have stated the Constitutional basis with respect to the history of church-state relation in America. I have stated clearly the two doctrines of separation of church and state versus using religion to bolster morality and virtue of the republic. And I have argued that the two doctrines have a common ground in conscience and morality.

    Read More

  • Censorship in Schools

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    As the case in Illinois clearly demonstrates, concerns about the fundamental discrepancy between a government's authority and what that government's authority guarantees are still being resolved. Cases like Tinker still have meaning and relevance to the situations of today, but at the same time, the lesson of Slotterback and innumerable other cases is that precedent can be defied, that every new generation requires a new interpretation of the provisions and guarantees made in grand terms vague enough to allow just such reinterpretation. History shows that censorship can be unfolded into either prior restraint or public forum, the approach from liberty or the approach from authority. Judicial sympathies have swung from one to the other with some regularity. With an issue as contentious as this, we can safely expect they will continue to do so.

    Read More

  • Separation of Church and State

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Separation of Church and State Protects Both Secular and Religious Worlds.” Phi Delta Kappan Feb. 2000: 462.

    Read More

  • Schopenhauer's Criticism of Kant's Analysis of Object

    2387 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kant's Critique of Pure Reason [2] is notoriously difficult to read and often unclear. Possibly, this is because Kant was in a hurry to complete the first edition. Schopenhauer comments on Kant's "want of adequate reflection with which he passes over such questions as: What is perception? What is concept? What is reason? What is understanding? What is object?" [1; p.434]. Kant failed to lay down a proper foundation for these fundamental notions, and this has led to ambiguities in his work.

    Read More

  • The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Pape, Bloom, and Horowitz

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pape believes that suicide terrorism is focused around democracies and occupation. After conducting his research, Pape discovered that from 1980 to 2001, records of suicide terrorism have had three main reoccurring, necessary properties: timing, nationalist goals, and target selection. Pape (2003) explains that, when it comes to timing, “nearly all suicide attacks occur in organized, coherent campaigns, not as isolated or randomly timed incidents” (347). Thus, Pape infers there is strategic reasoning behind this way of terrorizing the masses. He further states campaigns of suicide terrorism focus on gaining oversight of territory terrorists deem as their national homeland.

    Read More

  • Child's Theory Of Play

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus

    Read More

  • Privacy: Security, Confidentiality, or Convenience?

    3152 Words  | 7 Pages

    The evolution of the Internet started from the department of defense's project, and rapidly distributed to world wide. With the rise of the Internet age comes with the benefits and the concerns. Because of the easeness to communicate information and displaying data, the first amendment needs to be applied to this communication channel. How are we using and communicating information without offending and harm others? Since the evolution of the Internet, there has been acts from Congress to regulate the use the Internet such as the Communications Decency Act in 1996 and the Child Online Protection Act in 1998. These acts aim to forbid Internet users from displaying offensive speech to users or exposing children of indecent materials. The Internet raises other issues that people might have. The biggest and most debatable topic is the privacy issue. Is the Internet a safe place to protect personal information such as financial information, medical data, etc…? Some people who are computer literate or at least with some experience in software and technology would not trust to release the information on the web or at random sites . As a matter of fact, any unknown or small vendor on the web would have difficulty getting many customers to do business online. Big vendors such as Amazon would want to secure their network infrastructure to protect the users information, so that their server would not be hacked. However, even this style of protecting personal information is not enough. The users demand further protection such as ensuring their information is not being sold to other vendors for misuse, or spam the users mailbox with soliticing.

    Read More

  • Rationalism In Immanuel Kant's Epistemology

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    With the idea of synthetic a priori knowledge as the springboard, Kant develops his critical philosophy, rejecting his own direct realism as well as Hume’s more radical Empiricist views (Seung, 2011). The Critique of Pure Reason (1778) is Kant’s seminal epistemological work, in which he outlines his “grand theory of perception,” which he termed transcendental (Seung, 2011, pp. 1). Kant’s transcendental philosophy provided a new way of understanding knowledge, and expanded our ideas of what we can know, how we know, and the limits to what we can

    Read More

  • Childhood Play And Development Essay

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    As children develop cognitively the types of play they engage in mirrors this development. This research can be helpful for adults because it gives them insight into how children learn through play (Tsao, 2002). For example, in order to help a child develop their ability to understand the difference between reality and fantasy, pretend games should be encouraged. Parents and teachers can help by giving children toys that require the use of imagination. This includes dress up clothes, play kitchens, and

    Read More

  • Lack of Internet Security and Privacy

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    As can be seen, from the information presented, the need for laws and restrictions concerning internet data collection is greatly needed. Moreover, the government can search private citizens data without warrant or cause. Also, companies are not only collecting internet user data but also selling it. The companies and agencies who commit such crimes should be fined or either closed down. In closing, the privacy and security of individuals on the internet should be upheld by the United States government.

    Read More

  • Poverty In Ghana Essay

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to a survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) (2014) on the poverty profile in Ghana between the years 2005 and 2013 the Ghana Living Standard Survey reveals, that one-third of the population of Ghana are poor and one-tenth are extremely poor. To assess this fact, GSS used conditions such as

    Read More

  • Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace

    2593 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Internet provides a gateway for an individual to speak freely and anonymously without being targeted to what he or she said. With this said, one of the biggest issues concerning the Internet today is freedom of speech. The issue of free speech on the Internet has been a topic of discussion around the world within the past years. It is a unique communication medium and is powerful than the traditional media[2]. Because the Internet can not be compared equally to other mediums of communication, it deserves the utmost freedom of speech protection from the government. The restriction of speech on the Internet takes away from individual's rights and freedom from experiencing the Internet's benefits and uses. Information found on the Internet is endless and boundless and this poses the question, "should the government be allowed to regulate the information and content being transmitted or posted online?"

    Read More

More about Cyberspace and the Constitution

Open Document