Pornography Censorship

At this point in our life we have all experienced sexual imagery of some sort. Some of us have seen some of the powerpoints of people's research projects in class. There was one about a women's role in the media, and another about sexual advertisements in magazines. We have all seen how our culture's sex drive has increased dramatically with the rise of the internet, and advertisements. Coming from a conservative background, i have always appreciated the morals and standards our nation has lived under. There was a time when it was inappropriate for a man and woman to kiss in public, but now sexual references can be found everywhere.


A few weeks ago i was asked to write a research paper on any topic. Not knowing a whole lot about the censorship of pornography i decided to pursue that. After a long week of research, and non-stop typing, the result was a 6 page, 1500 word essay. Here is an excerpt from what i wrote.

"As with all arguments, the pornography debate has two sides, both with very valid points. Generally conservative, people with traditional Americana values argue that our nation's morals are at stake, and they use sexual assault statistics to back up there cause. Their opposition believes that censoring pornography would be unconstitutional, because it is breeching their freedom of speech.
As of now we find ourselves at a stalemate between moral compromise and legal reform. Both sides have presented concrete assertions that are fair and just. One side fights for decency, while the other battles for freedom. In a grudge match between speech and values, it is up to the people to decide how indispensable porn really is. Can our society survive with out sexually explicit content, or will our nation crumble from a slight restriction of speech? Perhaps a comfortable median can be found through filters and firewalls, or even identification systems? The struggle for pornography censorship is long but over and only time will tell if our nation's prudent past will make a come back as a future trend."

In case you guys are further interested, i got a good deal of my information from family safe media and stanford.edu. Both sites reveal non-biased information, with some startling facts. I encourage any of you who are intrested in checking them out.

Internet "Pirating"

We've all seen that rediculous commercial before movies... Would you steal an old ladies purse?? Would you rob a liquor store?? Would you hi-jack a car and go on a homocidal rampage?? Than why would would you illigally download music off the internet? Since 1999, internet file sharing sites such as Napster, and Kazaa have been providing ways for people to search, and download their favorite music and movies instantly. In 2000, A&M records and several other companies sued Napster for copy right infringements, and won. Almost every file sharing website since has been enforcing membership fees, to help provide musicians and record labels with their share of the money. Itunes is one of the most popular music downloading sites on the internet, with nearly 2 million songs downloaded daily. There are however, still websites that offer free downloads that have not been sued yet, such as Limewire. Free services such as Limewire make up almost 80% of the downloaded music daily. There are also many controversial arguements of whether file sharing is morally acceptable or not. Technically online pirating is stealing, but in a far less harmless way. The songs that are being downloaded, are coming from someone who bought the CD, and all though it may take away from some sales, it is almost like a form of advertising. Some researchers say that file sharing has helped smaller groups to get noticed, which in turn give them a larger platform, bringing them more money.Many people also do not know that dvd sales have actually risen 10%, and dispite a terrible blockbuster year, the box office was only down 1 %. Whether or not it takes away from the profit artists and record labels should be making, you have to question whether or not they really need it. Weird Al's "Dont Download this Song" takes a humerous, yet serious look at online pirating.