Abstract
The Internet provides the First Amendment’s “freedom of speech” with a world of opportunity. Any person with access to the Internet may take advantage of a wide variety of information and communication methods. This unique medium, known to its users as cyberspace, is located in no particular geographical location and has no centralized control point, but is available to anyone, anywhere in the world with access." In the past twenty years, the Internet, a network of connected computers, has experienced extraordinary growth. The number of “host” computers, or those that store information and relay communications, increased between the years of 1981 and 1996 from three hundred (300) to approximately 9.4 million. As of September 2001, 143 million Americans, or approximately fifty-four percent (54%) of the population, were using the Internet. One of the Internet’s many faces is the World Wide Web (“Web”). With just a click of a mouse, people can explore various webpages containing a wide array of information, pictures, movies, and music. The Web is partly the reason why children and teenagers use computers and the Internet more than any other age group.
Recommended Citation
Dawn S. Conrad,
Protecting Children from Pornography on the Internet: Freedom of Speech is Pitching and Congress May Strike Out,
9
Rich. J.L. & Tech
2
(2003).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/jolt/vol9/iss2/5