CHAPTER 5 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS The 1st Amendment protects “right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression” - the definition of speech includes non verbal, visual, and symbolic forms of expression ex. Flag burning, dance movements, and hand gestures - the 1st amendment protects the right to speak anonymously as part of the guarantee of free speech. - the following are types of speech that are not protected by the 1st amendment: perjury, fraud, defamation, obscene speech, incitement of panic, incitement of crime, fighting words and sedition (rebellion against a government)

OBSCENE SPEECH & DEFAMATION Obsecene Speech Ex. Miller conducted a mass mailing campaign to advertise the sale of adult material (consist of pictures explicitly depicting men and women engaged in sexual activity) Defamation – making either an oral or written statement of alleged fact that is false and harms another person. Slander is a oral defamatory statement Libel is a written defamatory statement

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CONTROLLING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET ANONYMITY ON THE INTERNET DEFAMATION AND HATE SPEECH CORPORATE BLOGGING PORNOGRAPHY

CONTROLLING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET Restricting children’s internet access as well as adults with this the US government has passed laws and software manufacturers have invented special software to block access to objectionable material. Communications Decency Act 1996 - aims to protect children from pornography ($250,000 fines and prison terms of up to 2 years) Child Online Protection Act 1998 - Protects children from online pornography while preserving the right of adults

Internet Filtering An Internet filtering is a software that can be used to block access to certain Web sites that contain material deemed inappropriate or offensive. URL filtering – a particular URL or doamin name is identified as belonging to anobjectionable site Keyword filtering – uses keywords or phrases to block the Web sites. Dynamic content filtering – each Web site’s content is evaluated immediately before it is displayed Children’s Internet Protection Act 2000 - The act required federally financed schools to use some form of technological protection to block computer access to obscene material, pornography, and anything else considered harmful to minors.

ANONYMITY ON THE INTERNET Anonymous expression is the expression of opinions by people who do not reveal their identity. Anonymous remailer service - it uses a computer program to strip the originating IP number from the message.

DEFAMATION AND HATE SPEECH Speech that is merely annoying, critical, demeaning, or offensive enjoys protection under 1st Amendment. Legal resource is possible only when hate speech turns into clear threats and intimidation against specific citizens. A former student was sentenced to 1 year in prison for sending e-mail death threats to Asian American students at the University of California, Irvine. His e-mail was signed “Asian Hater,” and his letter stated that he would make it his career to find and kill every Asian himself. In 2002, Varian Medical Systems won a $775,000 verdict in a defamation and harassment lawsuit against two former employees who posted thousands of messages to wide variety of online message boards accusing Varian managers of being homophobic and discriminating against pregnant women.

CORPORATE BLOGGING Blogging is a new way to reach out to parents, customers, and other employees and to improve their corporate image. To ask other employees for help w/ work-related problems To share work-related information in a manner that invites conversation To invite others to refine or build on a new idea

PORNOGRAPHY The internet has been a boon to the pornography industry by providing fast, cheep, and convenient access to over 4.2 million porn Web sites worldwide. Adult pornography is a big business with a $4.9 billion in revenue in 2006, it generates traffic and it is estimated that there are 72 million visitors to porn Web sites monthly

Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act 2003 - A law that specifies requirements that commercial e-mailers must follow when sending out messages that advertise or promote a commercial product or service. The “From” and “To” field in the e-mail, as well as the originating domain name and e-mail address, must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the e-mail. The subject line of the e-mail cannot mislead the recipient as to the contents or subject matter of the message. The e-mail must be identified as an advertisement and include a valid physical postal address for the sender. The e-mailer must provide a return e-mail address or some other Internet-based response procedure to enable the receipt to request no future e-mails, and the e-mailer must honor such request to opt out.