a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. The Supreme Court views obscenity as completely outside the scope of the first amendments protection, and the Government may regulate speech freely as long as the Miller test is fulfilled (Simon 2). Although many may consider pornography to be obscene, by this definition, there seems to be some ambiguity. Pornography is defined as: Writings, pictures, etc., intended primarily to arouse sexual desire. Another question that needs to be asked is, does censorship of cyberporn violate the first amendment of the constitution? The first amendment states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (Bill of Rights) The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that pornography and obscenity fall outside the first amendment. The Internet is akin to commercial network television, and government can constitutionally restrict T.V., so why not the Internet? Probably because adult conduct that includes sexually oriented conduct that has been considered by many to be immoral, has been protected by the First Amendment when it takes place in a private setting (Ford, Marrin, and Esposito 1). Additionally, the Internet is different because no single person or organization controls or administers the Internet. It exists because individuals have chosen voluntarily to use common data transfer protocols to transmit information (Simon 3). Another reason is that servers have the technology to screen out minors from these sites. Every site requires a credit card number, not only for payment, but also for insuring that the viewer is 18 years of age. But some argue that sometimes minors are not the issue. Many believe that much of the content on the Int...
