Internet Laws :: essays research papers

Crime and the Criminal Internet lawfulnesssCyber Space Law Right now there is a genuinely interesting warfare being waged in the court rooms across America. It is a competitiveness for the rights of citizens on the Internet. The Internet is a fairly new medium gaining round-eyed popularity in 1994. Because of its incredible growth in popularity in a very short amount of time it has been hard to regulate. The first act to get hold out regarding the Internet and Freedom of Speech was PL 99-508 the Electronic Communications and retirement Act of 1986 . This act consisted of two parts, title I and title II. patronage I - Interception of Communications and Related Matters. Basically takes the existing laws and updates them to include computers. Where beforehand it was il profound to terminate private telephone calls, it now says it is under-the-counter to intercept private computer transmissions. It too includes a prep to make it legal to intercept public radio transmissions l ike it is with public radio programs. It also allows Internet Service Providers to keep a log of who called and their activity on-line to protect themselves. Title II - Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access. This provision adds ingredients to Title 18 of the United States Code (USC). In section 2701 - unconventional Access to Stored Communications it makes it a federal offense to hack into a computer system. Actually what it says is that it is not illegal to gain access barely once you do gain access, by mistake or intention, it is illegal to continue to access the computer system. This crime is punishable by $5000 or up to six months in jail. Section 2703 of USC Title 18 is the section that instructs Internet Service Providers to keep a back-up record of your activities on-line with a court order from a governance entity. Then after the government notifies the individual in question, the material is either used by the business office or is destroyed. Probably the biggest battle yet over the first amendment rights so far has been the Communications Decency Act or CDA. In March 1995 Senator Jim exon introduces legislation to criminalize online publication of any material deemed "obscene, lascivious, filthy or indecent." This legislation was attached to a larger and popular Telecommunications Reform Bill. The Senate and the dramatics voted to approve the Telecommunications Reform Bill in February 1996.