Senator J. James Exon has written an essay titled "Keep Internet Safe For Families" to help explain his proposed Communications Decency Amendment (CDA), which he designed to combat indecent material on the Internet. Exon tries hard to make a good case for himself, but I was not convinced by his arguments.

Exon's CDA calls for tighter reigns on the laws governing Internet content. Exon states that free speech should not protect offensive material, adding that "the framers of the Constitution never intended for the First Amendment to protect pornographers and pedophiles" (145). He wants us to believe that stricter laws will prevent vulgar material from being transmitted online, and wants us to see pornography trading as a crime. However, as Richard Neely states in his online essay "The Politics of Crime," the problem with crime is "this attitude that it is possible to do something about the crime." I take this to mean in part that making crime penalties more unforgiving does not necessarily prevent crimes from taking place.

Exon also believes that it is impossible for a parent to "stand over their child's shoulder and monitor them all of their waking hours of every day" (145). He seems to conveniently forget that there are websites, such as PEP: Resources for Parents, Educators, and Publishers, which offer listings and reviews of parental controls that can be implemented to do the job of a parent without the presence of the parent being necessary. PEP alone lists 58 different parental controls specifically designed to help parents decide what their children have access to.

It seems that Senator Exon wrote his essay specifically to promote his proposed amendment, and I feel he was unable to make a good case for his view. The government is made to protect our freedoms, including freedom of speech. If Senator Exon wants families to be protected, he should allow for individual decisions to be made by the head of those families without interference from the government.

Bubnic, Anne. PEP: Parents, Educators, and Publishers. 23 Sept. 2001. <http://www.microweb.com/pepsite>.

Exon, J. James. "Keep Internet Safe for Families." CyberReader. 2nd ed. Ed. Victor J. Vitanza. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. 144-145.

Neely, Richard. "The Politics of Crime." The Atlantic Online. 38.2 (1982). 23 Sept. 2001. <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/crime/neelycri.htm>.

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