The Urgent Need for Internet CensorshipWith the growing popularity of the Internet, especially among children, parents and others are concerned that young people have easy access to a wide range of pornography available online. They pointed out that it is a relatively easy maneuver for children to recall obscene material at home or in libraries, simply by searching for keywords such as “porn” or “sex.” The purpose of this article is to delve deeper into the topic of the need for Internet regulation. In February 1996, Congress passed - and the president signed - the Communications Decency Act, which made it a crime to transmit "indecent" material to minors online (Communications). But the Supreme Court, at the ACLU's request, struck down key parts of that law — a move welcomed by some civil libertarians and librarians, who argued that restrictions on the Internet amounted to a curtailment of free speech. Many have opposed – and still oppose – filtering devices – commercially available software that blocks access to some websites containing objectionable material. They say it would limit people's ability to have access – thinking particularly about adults – to have access to information about, say, breast cancer or sexual harassment because it's embedded in key terminology. Despite these sentiments, some family groups and lawmakers are still calling for controls on what comes online. Several Internet industry leaders, hoping to avoid harsh laws or regulations, have announced their own voluntary plan to limit what is available to minors. The Center for Democracy & Technology markets what it calls "the Internet toolkit" that allows parents and you...... middle of paper...... etter. Ultimately, the burden falls on parents and I think that's the message these companies want to give. There's a responsibility: It's implicit to these companies that these companies generally accept that it's up to them to let parents know that this stuff is available, and it's up to them to make it simple enough so that even an adult can use it. A big problem is that children, in general, are more familiar with technology than their parents. So when you're talking about a program to keep a child away from something on the Internet that a parent has to install, that's where the problem lies, because in many families, it's the kids who teach the parents how to use it, not the other way around.WORKS CITED:Communications Decency Act. http://www.epic.org/CDA/cda.html"US Supreme Court strikes down CDA" http://www.epic.org/cda/