Holly老師的英語新天地

Task 2的得分首要關鍵，不外乎考生在三分鐘內腦力激盪的能力！以下整理幾組正反兩方爭議論點的參考句子，檢查看看你想出幾個呢? J

Task 2: the necessity of internet censorship網路審查

Supporters of internet censorship may say…

1.   The main reason for this censorship stems from people’s fears that children can view online inappropriate material like pornography.

2.   As a wonderful place of entertainment and education, the Internet offers a vast number of resources unavailable in any single geographical location. However, this myriad of users and the breathtakingly large number of interactions that result from Internet traffic has brought about numerous negative effects as well.

3.   Easy access to information on any topic may lead users, especially children, to materials that would otherwise not be accessible and could be potentially harmful.

4.   The problem that concerns most people is the availability of indecent material online, such as pornography.

5.   Many high schools and most public libraries provide Internet access to students and patrons. This access is very useful for looking up information, but if a student or young patron intends to look for inappropriate material, he/she can very likely find such material by doing an Internet search.

6.   This access has led to many people clamouring for governmental regulation of the Internet, often called the ‘Censor the Net’ approach.

7.   This is a way of keeping inappropriate materials out of minors’ hands by banning offensive material online.

8.   Ideally, censorship is that unsuitable material will not fall into the hands of children and teenagers.

9.   The purpose of indecency regulation is to keep adult material from failing into the hands of children.

10. The information superhighway is in danger of becoming an electronic ‘red light district’.

11. We should establish a prohibition on commercial distribution of material on the World Wide Web that is harmful to minors.

12. We should enact a law that makes it a criminal offense to make available to children any indecent materials or to send anything indecent with the ‘intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass.’

13. A person breaks the law if he puts offensive material like pornography on a web page without making sure that children cannot access the page.

14. There is a debate over what is meant by freedom of speech. Some people will argue that free speech only covers all the information that is educational, religious, where there are no intentions to hurt anyone; therefore, it does not cover offensive material like pornography.

15. There is no doubt that the Internet is host to a lot of unsavoury sites, from racist and pornographic through to dangerously anarchic.

16. The government is now trying to pass bills to prevent misuse of die Internet.

17. The problem that concerns most people is offensive materials such as pornography.

18. The problem with this much information being accessible to this many people is that some of it is deemed inappropriate for minors.

19. Legislative regulation of the Internet would be an appropriate function of the government.

20. The government should prevent the information superhighway from becoming a computer ‘red light district’.

21. Government should regulate information on the Internet. Obscene and harmful material on the Internet, such as child pornography should be obliterated.

22. Child pornography, hacking, and objectionable material on the Internet are bad and should be taken off.

23. Freedom of speech and involvement of government of the Internet is a controversial issue, but we must protect people from some obscene and harmful material that can be accessed through it.

24. Coalitions need to be formed worldwide to help in the finding and annihilation of harmful and obscene materials.

Opponents of internet censorship may say…

1.   The Internet has become one of the most valuable technological tools in our society. For the first time in history, people can freely express their opinions.

2.   Online systems give people far more genuinely free speech and free press than has ever occurred in human history.

3.   Censorship of the Internet by the government for the purpose of preventing children from viewing offensive material’ is misguided.

4.   The government should not censor the Internet for the sake of children because such suppression of ideas goes against the freedom of expression.

5.   Only a small percentage of online communication involves offensive material.

6.   The involvement of parents, filtering software, and digital signatures that inform viewers of what the site contains represent more viable alternatives for protecting the interest of children than censorship.

7.   Using these alternative measures, parents can oversee the Internet usage of their children, and adults can continue to enjoy Internet free from governmental intrusion.

8.   It may be both politically and technologically impossible to censor the Internet.

9.   Many people believe it is not fair to limit freedom and to damage the atmosphere of free expression of ideas just for the safety of children.

10. What some consider offensive material is perfectly acceptable to somebody else.

11. In reality, only a very small portion of the Internet contains offensive material.

12. The majority of the people do not use the Internet for pornography.

13. Most people use the Internet for communication and information exchange rather than sexual gratification.

14. Censorship violates our freedom of speech.

15. Censorship of the Internet implicates one of the most fundamental rights of people.

16. Censoring the Internet for the sake of children means going against freedom of expression.

17. This is a world where anyone, anywhere, may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into the silence of conformity.

18. In fact, the most significant new properties of the Internet media are the diversity of information sources and their ability to reach almost anywhere in the world.

19. Supporters of Internet freedom of expression are angry that politicians are now beginning 10 enact laws that encroach on that freedom.

20. They point out that one of the great strengths of the Internet is its resistance to control and repression, a feature that has seen it used to nurture information and ideas in places where they are not usually encouraged. The Internet is seen by some as the last bastion of real freedom.

21. Internet censorship is doomed to failure anyway. The lack of borders in cyberspace means that legislators are faced with difficult problems of enforcement, since material can be re-posted from a new location with different local laws.

22. The Internet is a way to explore the world without going anywhere.

23. As a matter of fact, the technical issue is a huge problem. The question here is directly related to the fact that new web sites come alive on the Internet every day.

24. Many experts have pointed out that government censorship on the Internet is not possible.

25. Government censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship.

26. In many countries, minors can be exposed to sexual material in many kinds of media. Providing children with moral guidance is therefore the best solution to the problem.

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Alternative Measures

There are many alternative measures to government censorship that would prevent misuse of the Internet and would have a better effect than censorship. The U.S. government should inform citizens that there are ways to protect children without legislative intervention: involvement of parents, filter software, and digital signatures that inform viewers of what the site contains. If people use these voluntary measures, adults, under protection of the First Amendment, can remain protected from government control. However, if any future censorship bills pass, the First Amendment may effectively be excluded from cyberspace. This is not acceptable because the Internet is not only a network of computers, but sociologically, it is also a network of people; the same people whose freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United Sates. For these reasons it is very important for parents to provide moral guidance for their children, and parents should have this responsibility. Moral guidance is the foremost long-term solution to the problem. In fact, if parents have control over their children’s web-surfing on the computer, they are in a better position to protect them from accidental exposure to inappropriate material.

In America, like in other countries, minors can be exposed to sexual material in many kinds of media. Providing children with moral guidance is therefore the best solution to the problem. In fact, parents cannot watch their children every second of every day, so when left alone or with friends, there is a good possibility that they will search for such sites. The most important point here is that children need to understand that pornography is extremely wrong, and it is something that only exists because it creates a market of billions and billions of dollars throughout the world.

However, at the same time that parents carry out moral guidance, Americans have to develop some short-term approaches to solve the problem in a more efficient way. Parents can protect their children by limiting the scope of the Internet experience in two ways: by filtering at the personal computer (PC) itself, or by ensuring that children are using trusted sites and resources. An alternative to government censorship is the technological fix, which would prevent misuse of the Internet and perhaps would have better effects than government censorship. This involves the design of intelligent software to filter information. There is a rush to develop information-filtering software and to get it to market. One example of this technological fix is ‘SurfWatch’ software. It is a breakthrough software product that helps parents deal with the flood of sexual material on the Internet. By allowing parents to be responsible for blocking what is being received at any individual computer, children and others have less of a chance of accidentally or deliberately being exposed to unwanted material. These same kinds of blocking devices have been used on television. It seems that they already are working very well for TV; therefore, it is acceptable to think that these devices will have the same effects for computers. Therefore, a software like SurfWatch strives to preserve internet freedom by letting individuals choose what they see. The SurfWatch vendor intends to provide monthly updates to cope with the fast changing Internet. Perhaps today the best site-blocking software is Net Nanny Software International’s NetNanny. This Windows-only software limits a child’s access to inappropriate material via the web, email, chat rooms and other parts of the Internet. Commercial Internet service providers, such as ‘America OnLine,’ allow parents to control what Internet relay chat (IRC) sessions are available to their children. Parental Control is a feature of many commercial Internet service providers. Users can turn on the Parental Control function, and they will automatically be kept away from offensive words in IRC. In this way, children can be kept away from offensive material, and adults can continue to enjoy their Internet freedom.

Another technological fix is for parents and guardians to have a separate ‘proxy server’ for their children’s web browser. A ‘proxy server’ is a programme that does not allow the use of some specified Internet sites or Usenet newsgroups. The parents need to actively select sites their proxy server can access. Parental control tools are a very practical solution to the problem. As stated in the ‘Communication Decency Act Issues Page’ by the Centre for Democracy and Technology, ‘what will help parents control their children’s access to the Internet is Parental Control tools and features, such as those provided by several major online services which are available as over-the-counter software.’ Tools for controlling Internet acces by children are widely available, and parents can already control their children’s access to the material on the Internet.