es and bring them to more people in a form that is easier to use. Parents have fears about some of the possibilities they see with existing technology:
Areas of concern include World Wide Web sites, newsgroups and on line "chat" areas on both the Internet and commercial on line services. A chat area is like a party line where several people converse in real time by typing and reading comments that are instantly transmitted to all who are tuned in. Because they're live, chat sessions can be particularly troublesome, since there is no way to screen material before it's posted (Magid, 1995, D 7).
For the existing on-line services providing home access, bulletin boards are less of a problem:
With few exceptions, the forums or bulletin boards on the commercial on line service are appropriate for family viewing. If offensive material is posted, it's usually removed by the staff. That's not necessarily true with the chat sessions. And it definitely isn't true on the Internet which, unlike commercial services, is not maintained by a single company or organization. There are also some sexually explicit private bulletin boards which, in all but a few cases, attempt to keep children out (Magid, 1995, D 7).
Clearly, the problem with the Internet is that no one is watching to see what is said or who is listening, and this is what concerns parents. At the same time, not everyone sees a problem, and many believe censorship is the wrong approach. A recent survey conducted by Black Enterprise magazine found that 57.9 percent oppose the idea of censorship on the Internet, with those responding via the Internet being more likely to be against censorship (64.4 percent) than those who responded by mail (36.6 percent). In total, just 22.3 percent agreed that censorship should be imposed (Gray, 1996, PG).
In 1996, however, President Clinton signed into law the Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act which contained a pr...