Close to half (49%) of all Americans think the federal government should regulate the Internet the same way it does radio and television according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.
Thirty-five percent are opposed to having the Internet regulated by the federal government and 16 percent are undecided.
The majority (73%) of Americans believe that it should be a crime to harass someone on the Internet and 13 percent disagree.
The findings come as a Missouri woman faces federal prosecution for creating a phony MySpace profile and pretending to be a 16-year-old boy to flirt with and later reject 13-year-old Megan Meier. Meier later committed suicide.
The woman, Lori Drew, pleaded not guilty last week to charges of conspiracy and accessing a protected computer to obtain information
Most Americans (71%) have some awareness of the Drew case, with only 25 percent saying they know nothing about it. Women (79%) more than men (67%) think online harassment should be a crime.
Women support federal regulation of the Internet, with 55 percent in favor, 25 percent opposed and 20 percent undecided. Forty-six percent of men were against federal regulation, while 42 percent support it and 12 percent were unsure.
One out of four Americans (26%) says they have a social networking account with sites such as MySpace and Facebook, but 69 percent say they do not. Sixty-five percent of men and 45 percent of women under 40 say they are members of a social network. Only 24 percent of men and 15 percent of women over 40 said they were members of a social network.
Close to one out of two adults (48%) say they use the Internet every day or almost every day, but 25 percent say they rarely, if ever use it. Income is a factor, with Internet usage increasing with the level of the participant's annual earnings.
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Tough question eh?
In some cases, the phrase, "to serve AND protect" simply don't go together as well as they should. The Internet is a good case in point.
Absolultely nothing since the advent of standardized languages (in the 1600's) has propelled intellectual and financial equity further than the Internet has. As the last truly free-speech and free-thought arena in western society, the Internet has brought economic and information benefits to every corner of the globe (with the notable exception of NKorea and a few other repressive regimes).
The 'net has made it easy to far more people to learn, grow and share information. It has also presented economic opportunties in places that had few to none before. It grew so fast because it was free of the over-burden of regulation.
At the same time, no communications medium has made being a public asshole simpler (with the notable exception of evangilist television). Harassement and threats abound for public figures on the Internet and bullying of other Internet users has never been easier. We all know the story of the young teenage girl pushed to suicide when taunted by the mother of one of her peers.
Two weeks ago, Webcology on WebmasterRadio (http://www.webmasterradio.fm/Search-Engine-Optimization/Webcology/Internet-Bullying.htm) covered the harassement of two Wikipedia administrators. The next day, my employer received a harassing email suggesting I was a fool, one designed to threaten my employment. The guy who sent it had been outed as a Wikipedia harasser in a different forum long ago.
Regulation of the Internet is NOT going to work any better than the enforcement of the laws currently on the books. Adding more laws does little to curb the enthusiasm of malicious malcontents. Refining and expanding current laws to include the digital medium might look good on paper but we all know that digital mediums work far differently than print, though they share common characteristics.
Nevertheless, something has to be done. Good Internet workers are being forced away from their good works by threats, harassement and intimidation. There is very little law enforcement can do about it as the legal community is still getting a grasp on the implications of the Internet.
The choice, a free range zone that has brought prosperity and intellectual growth to billions over a policed zone that will try to continue to do the same but will be a bit slower and more litigious.
The Internet should continue to serve. Its users should learn to protect themselves. Everytime we rely on the hand of government to do it for us, something wicked comes of the effort. Difficult choices indeed.
wow
It hink though if you start regulating to many things the web will no longer be a free speach medium. I think there needs to be some regulations but only for things that are illegal.
Stats
So where did these stats come from? Out of a hat or thin air?
Americans Favor Internet Regulation
This OldGa.
People or all sexes and age groups need to learn to be responsible in there actions and especially while on such web-sites.
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