Should the internet be regulated?

[nekoneko]

Hi everyone, so I have a pretty nice debate topic for my Microelectric and Nanotech class and would love input from you guys, seeing as I probably won't thing of somethings that others would think of. So anyways here's the full topic.

Should the Internet be regulated to address the burgeoning problem of child exploitation and the exploitation of other at-risk individuals? If so, how could/should this be done? If not, how do we then deal with the emerging problems?

and questions that came along with this were as follows:
1. What is the best way to confront and then deal with Internet-based exploitation of children and other at-risk individiauls?
2. How can parents most effectively limit what their children are exposed to on the Internet?
3. How can law enforcement agencies effectively function across country borders rendered instantly porous on the Internet, and where they likely have no legal jurisdiction? Should there be a global Internet police force?
4. Some active "tracing protocols" be put in place to more easily track down perpetrators?

This debate will be held on the 9/11/08 so hopefully people will respond to this before then.

and to leave a quote behind cuz my professor is cool like that :

To laugh Often and Much;
To Win the Respect of Intelligent People
And the Affection of Children;
To Earn the Appreciation of Honest Critics
And Endure the Betrayal of False Friends;
To Find the Best in Others;
To Leave the World a Bit Better,
Whether by a Healthy Child,
A Garden Patch,
Or a Redeemed Social Condition;
To Know That Even One Life
Has Breathed Easier
Because You Have Lived.
This is to Have Succeeded.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

[Yosei]

Well, in a nutshell, I think it is impossible to monitor the internet. But a country's government can atleast try.

My ideas would be(for America) is maybe you have to apply for some kind of license before opening a site. Kind of like vending. Sites that provide webspace for little mini sites like tripod, should maybe monitor the stuff that goes onto the sites that are made under them. Or do they do that already?

I'm not a pro at the internets.

As for kids and such... at first, myspace was supposed to be for ages 18+, then it bumped down to 15+, now its 13+. The other day, my nephews friends came over, all of their ages were between 7 and 9. They(not my nephew) had myspace accounts. I was shocked! I think they should do something similar to what Korea does to their version of Fiesta. Sites like those should be 15+(old enough to get an ID), and to register, you have to provide an ID number, and if you aren't 15+, your parents have to provide theirs. Of course, there will probably be ways around that, like fake ID numbers.

I seriously think kids these days are trying to grow up too fast -.-;;

[lamchopz]

Some kids as young as 9 can actually perform complex tasks. Those young heckers aren't easy to control, if you can at all.

I concur with what Yosei said. I've seen this topic now and again and no compromise could be reached because in the end, there is no practical way to achieve it.

[Hraesvelg]

Licensing web pages? What sort of nanny-state big brother place do you want to live in? The internet is one of the last bastions of free speech available. It shouldn't be regulated in the least.

To address the specific points:

1. What is the best way to confront and then deal with Internet-based exploitation of children and other at-risk individiauls?
I've never seen any evidence that the internet has made exploitation of children more prevalant than it has in the past. There have always been child slave/sex rings going back to time immemorial. Prevent the root cause of child exploitation and the internet "problem" goes away. What is that problem? You got me. Better minds than mine have been put to the task for centuries and haven't solved it yet.

2. How can parents most effectively limit what their children are exposed to on the Internet?
They can implement any one of a number of Net Nanny/site blocking programs. Can they be bypassed? Of course. Where there is a will, there is a way. If its really becoming a problem in a specific household, the parent should PARENT. Only allow the kid on to do specific tasks and watch while they do so.

3. How can law enforcement agencies effectively function across country borders rendered instantly porous on the Internet, and where they likely have no legal jurisdiction? Should there be a global Internet police force?
Countries shouldn't be able to police outside of their jurisdictions. If we go down that road, we'll have to not critisize Islam or China, because then THEY would have the rights to prosecute over their borders. That isn't a road we want to go down. We'll also have to get over the fact that not everyone around the world thinks like we do. If its illegal in that other country, let them prosecute on their own terms. If it isn't, well, we'll have to get over it. If the country is condoning violence/exploitation against children, it shouldn't be that hard to put some form of economic pressure on the government. That's how diplomacy generally works.

4. Some active "tracing protocols" be put in place to more easily track down perpetrators?
Its almost ridiculously easy to track someone down like it is.

[nekoneko]

thanks guys ... now I'm armed and ready to approach this debate...wish me luck....countdown of 10 min till class