ABSTRACT
With the growth and popularity of the internet, particularly in schools and educational institutions, there has been a growing concern about the safety of using computer-mediated communication technology. Globally, parents and schools have approached cyber-travel with concerns about racist web sites, pornography, pedophiles, and the like. From schools to governments to computer industries, there has been a concerted effort to cyber-patrol the internet. In December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), requiring schools and libraries that receive federal money for internet connections to adopt internet safety policies, including the use of audit-tracking devices, safe sites, and software filtration devices such as Safesurf and NetNanny. Yet such proposed solutions and policies ignore the more relevant question of how private computer companies, internet service providers, corporations, and governments stand to gain financially and politically by deciding what kind of information will be censored and what kind will be promoted.
