Forum examines Internet

The growth of the Internet from a military research tool for scientists during the 1960s to a common part of American culture has forced lawmakers to decide which Internet practices are acceptable and which are not. These questions were the focus of a panel discussion Wednesday night, when three University employees -- whose occupations approach the Internet from different sides -- met to offer their opinions on the subject. The discussion, held in King's Court/English House's Class of 1938 Lounge, was entitled "Turn Signals for the Information Superhighway. "There are a lot of challenging questions about the Internet -- there are already laws for most of these questions but they just haven't been applied to this medium yet," said Robert Terrell, associate general counsel for the University. Copyright and commercial questions have left lawmakers guessing as to which "pigeon hole" -- most likely television, newspaper or phone -- the Internet belongs in, according to Terrell. Copyright questions on the Internet have also plagued creators of original works -- most commonly journalists and photographers -- who have had their efforts copied onto the Internet and sent throughout the world without consent or compensation. "The Internet has given people the ability to publish -- put something on a Web site and billions of people can see it," said Charles Buchholtz, manager of systems programming for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. "People have never had this kind of power before." Although the majority of copyright infringements over the Internet have not been for economic gain, the Internet's expanding popularity has begun to attract people seeking to profit from its accessibility. The Internet has begun to see companies spring up that collect advertising costs for sites that do nothing more than provide links to other sites, Terrell noted. A recent example found the Total News Network selling advertising on a sight that only provided links to other news sights such as CNN. The ability of companies and individuals to offer links to another site has raised questions of what can be considered invasion of privacy on the Internet, Terrell added. "What is the propriety of volunteering someone else's information by providing a link to their site?" he asked. And Buchholtz added that the ability to publish for mass audiences without any regulations or publishing restrictions has lead to the appearance of irresponsible material on the Internet. Last year's Communications Decency Act called for the regulation of obscene materials -- such as child pornography -- on the Internet. Many argued that the act restricted the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause, leading to nationwide protests. Terrell predicted that a recent court ruling that declared the act unconstitutional will by upheld the Supreme Court. The rampant growth of the Internet has also created problems at the University, according to University Information Security Officer Dave Millar. Problems with regulation of the Internet on campus have included the forging of e-mail messages and the stealing of e-mail passwords.