Who should control or regulate the internet?

Question

I have a debate tomorrow and Im on the Cons side in which I have to be like someone have to control the internet. I need some advice on who should control the internet and how do you extend these laws into the internet when different governemnts have different laws and the internet is availible to anyone to post up a webpage.

Answer 1

Nobody should control or regulate the Internet. I hope that side wins.

Coming to your side, Internet is essentially a relfection of the real world on the cyber space or cyber plane. All the laws that apply to the real world should, technically, be applicable to the Internet as well. No question about that.

Being a relfection on the cyber plane, things happening on the Internet affect the real world at varying syncs. A thing like release of a Service Pack from MS or a new kernel release from Linux community makes many want to use them and so they download them. Another thing could be, someone gets lured into a deadly trap and enact it in the rela world unwittingly. The results would be unpleasant. The Internet police have to be commissioned and made to monitor the Internet for such things which can potentially precipitate into unpleasant events in the real world.

The police's jurisdictions could perhaps be defined identical to the geographical definitions of jurisdictions. Just to make the tracing from Internet to the real world simpler.

But this could only go so far. If it goes beyond a limit, what happens is something like Yahoo! got chastised in the US senate for providing the Chinese governemt with information about a Chinese journalist. That led to the journalist's arrest and imprisonment because they emailed something about the Chinese govt.. This was seen as an infringement over freedom of expression on the part of Chinese government by the world in general and the US in particular.

Answer 2

It can't be done anymore. The Internet is already way to big to be controlled. If anyone should control it it should be the Universities where it first started.

Answer 3

whats wrong with the way it is now. It should not be controlled unless someone is posting dangerous stuff like "Nuclear Bombs for Dummies"

Answer 4

cons side? ha. No one should control the internet. I guarantee you if any legislation is passed it will be by Democrats decrying hate speech or some s***.

Answer 5

It is already being controlled by spammers, phishers, and porn mongers. ;)

Answer 6

The FCC, and they are doing that NOW.

Answer 7

Al Gore...after all he invented it....