Technology and the Law

How we communicate has changed because of the explosive growth of the Internet, which has prompted the development of many new technologies (e.g., digital cameras, wireless computers).

The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) are often confused, and the terms are used interchangeably. The Internet is a networking infrastructure. It is a network of networks that is capable of connecting computers around the world utilizing a variety of protocols. The WWW is the medium by which one accesses information over the Internet using a browser that connects the end user to Web documents or pages that contain video, graphics, text, and sound. The Internet is available in over 200 countries, millions of people use it daily, and there are over 100 million Web pages of information. The Internet is a teaching and learning tool that has tremendous potential for the [Page 1007]user; therefore, students must have free access to the Internet to learn how to analyze, locate, evaluate, and communicate information and ideas.

The Internet coupled with the need to provide access to information has become the challenge for twenty-first century schools. However, this access to information comes with the potential for abuse. Most discussion concerning the abuses of technology centers around access to inappropriate material on the Internet.

State and federal governmental officials often find themselves being reactive rather than proactive when it comes to technology abuses. In an effort to protect children from pornography and predatory behavior, the U.S. Congress passed several pieces of legislation in the last decade. First, the Communications Decency Act (CDA) was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The act made it law that any individual who transmitted obscene or indecent material to a minor under 18 years old was criminally liable. It was challenged in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union in 1997, and the Supreme Court struck down the statute because it was “facially overboard” and a constitutional violation that abridged free speech.

Second, the Congress, in 1998, passed the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) before the ink was dry on Reno. In an attempt to address issues raised by the Court in Reno, they wrote COPA so that it applied only to information displayed on the Internet, restricts only the material that is harmful to minors, and applied to communication made for commercial purposes. The legislation was challenged by Internet providers who believed that the statute violated the First Amendment free speech rights of adults by banning constitutionally protected speech. The Supreme Court based their decision on the fact that by using community standards to identify harmful material, the statute was overboard, and they remanded the case to the lower court.

Finally, the Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in 2001. This statute requires that public schools and libraries implement Internet safety policies and install Internet filters on computers to prevent users from accessing pornography, obscene material, and other material that is harmful to minors. CIPA applies to schools and libraries that receive federal discounts for purchasing Internet access under the federal E-rate program and those who receive funds to purchase computers or Internet access under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. CIPA was challenged by the American Library Association and others on the grounds that it violated the constitutional rights of adults and children using libraries. The Supreme Court upheld CIPA. It is important to note that the American Library Association case applied only to public libraries. Public schools did not participate in the case, and they have been meeting CIPA's requirements since October 2002.

...