CptS 401 Adam Carter

Quiz Question 7 Obscene speech is protected by the First Amendment. A. True B. False 2

Quiz Question 7 Answer (pp ) B. False  Miller v. California Supreme Court Case (1973) established three standards for identifying obscene speech, which is not protected by the First Amendment: It depicts sexual or excretory acts whose depiction is specifically prohibited by state law It depicts these acts in a patently offensive manner, appealing to prurient (i.e. having/encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters) interest as judged by a reasonable person It has no serious literary, artistic, social, political, or scientific value  Individuals who have posted materials on the Internet that do not meet the above standards in their own state have been successfully convicted of a crime in another state from which the material was accessed, and in which the material did meet the above standards. 3

Quiz Question 8 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 A. established that Internet service providers cannot be held liable for content provided by third parties. B. established that Internet service providers can be held liable for content provided by third parties. C. established that the main parts of the Communications Decency Act were unconstitutional. D. added restrictions on many services that telecommunications companies provide. E. None of the above 4

Quiz Question 8 Answer (p. 147) A “[The TA of 1996] significantly clarified the question of liability of Internet service providers (ISPs) and other online service providers for content posted by third parties such as members and subscribers. No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider” (p. 147, top paragraph). 5

Quiz Question 9 According to the ruling of a 1994 court case involving a Tennessee man who downloaded explicit pictures from a computer bulletin board in California, A. a computer site must abide by only the laws of the community in which it operates. B. a computer site must abide by the laws of any community from which the site can be accessed. C. a computer site must clearly post a disclaimer that indicates that it is operating according to its local laws and that the laws of other places may be different. D. None of the above 6

Quiz Question 9 Answer (p. 151) B  The gray box on p. 151 discusses the case.  The operators of the California bulletin board were prosecuted in Tennessee according to local laws, and placed in jail for violating those laws, even though they were not in violation of any laws in California. 7

Quiz Question 10 The Communications Decency Act of 1996 was declared unconstitutional for the following reason(s): A. Its definition of inappropriate material was too restrictive. B. It failed to use the least restrictive means of accomplishing its goal. C. The laws it mandated were not significantly different from existing local laws. D. All of the above E. None of the above 8

Quiz Question 10 Answer (p. 153) B “The courts accepted two main arguments against the CDA: that it was too vague and that it did not use the least restrictive means of accomplishing its goal of protecting children...When the governing is pursuing a legitimate goal that might infringe on free speech (in this case, the protection of children), it must use the least restrictive means of accomplishing the goal.” 9

Quiz Question 11 In order to avoid the problems of previous legislation to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit material, the Child Internet Protection Act of 2000: A. focused specifically on the scientifically-validated negative effects of the material on minors. B. focused specifically on restricting materials classified as obscene. C. required schools and libraries that receive certain federal funding to install filters on their Internet terminals. D. All of the above E. None of the above 10

Quiz Question 11 Answer (p. 158) C “The authors of CIPA attempted to avoid the courts’ criticisms of the CDA and COPA by using the federal government’s funding power...CIPA requires that schools and libraries that participate in certain federal programs...install filtering software on all Internet terminals.” 11

Quiz Question 12 America Online (AOL) and other large internet member service companies have won large lawsuits against commercial spammers on the following grounds: A. Spam uses the recipient’s company property and imposes economic costs on the recipient company. B. Filtering software in itself does not provide adequate protection against unwanted . C. Spam is not protected by free speech because it is used for commercial purposes. D. None of the above 12

Quiz Question 12 Answer (p. 162) A “We listed several arguments why a service provider should be free to filter incoming mail. One argument [supports] injunctions against the spammers:...the argument that the spam uses the recipient company’s property (computer system) against its wishes and imposes a cost on the recipient.” 13

The Internet is for …?  EFVsTg EFVsTg

Exercise 3.13: I.D. for Access to Pornography (3.13, p. 189). A bill was introduced in Congress to require web sites with pornography to get proof of age from those who try to enter the site, possibly requiring a credit card number or other adult ID number. Is this bill a good idea? A. Yes B. No C. Unsure 15

Are Internet filters sufficient protection from porn? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe

About Child Protection Acts  Child pornography was made illegal because it's production involves child abuse  2002 supreme court decision that "virtual" child porn is okay  More recent laws/rulings say otherwise

PROTECT ACT of 2003  Prohibits "such visual depiction is a computer image or computer-generated image that is, or appears virtually indistinguishable from that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct"  In 2008, a lower court convicted a man for viewing pornographic Japanese Anime involving teens

Did the man who viewed anime porn violate the law? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe

Class question  Should "virtual child porn" be illegal? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe

Should "sexting" be illegal? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe

Australia

Should states be allowed to ban the sale of Internet goods?  Yes  No  Maybe