I am writing to you about the issue of government regulation of the Internet. My stance on the issue comes down to freedom of speech and the relative ability or inability of the population to practice it.
The Internet has always offered an easily accessible venue for everyone to voice their opinions (no matter how outrageous) and has opened the world up to individuals across the globe for access to information and services they otherwise may not be able to have. And through it all, the Internet in the United States has been free of government regulation.
Compared to other forms of communication, such as television and radio, the Internet offers everyone the ability to voice their opinions, not just those given permission to do so by the network providers. Both television and radio are run by a fairly small number of companies, whereas the Internet, while provided to the public by a relatively small number of Internet service providers (ISPs), gives everyone with access an open forum for discussion on virtually any topic imaginable. And access is far easier for individuals, for example most libraries offer free access.
The nature of the Internet also guarantees this open flow of information, as there is no single route of information transfer, but thousands, even millions of potential sites to choose from. It is up to the individual site owners and administrators to decide whether or not they wish information of a given nature to be sent through them.
Recently, however, there has been much discussion in this nation about the government stepping in to regulate the information sent through the Internet. Proponents of this idea cite the use of the internet for illicit acts such as copyright infringement and childhood pornography. While I believe both of these acts are obviously illegal and must be dealt with, I don”t believe that risking the continued freedoms granted by the nature of the Internet is worth any potential added protection garnered by such a plan.
I believe that there should instead be stricter laws on both acts, and increased effort by the government in enforcing the laws relevant to them ? without granting the government powers to regulate all information sent over the Internet.
Chris Totzauer
Lakeport
