VSNL, still bruised from the response to its proposal to hike charges and the sheer number of people telling its chiefs exactly what to do, is still acting like a child who has been spanked. That means no more Internet connections. Applicants have been waiting for more than a month now, but there is no sign of a resumption of granting fresh licences. Lets see how long this I-wont-give-you-your-Net business continues.
Abroad, the debate on Communications Decency Act rages on. When a court struck it down last time, the Net burst with celebrations, but then, that was not to be the end. The issue is before the US Supreme Court now, and the free-speechers on the Net are watching with baited breath. Apprehensions have already been voiced about how the justices, unfamiliar with the Net or its culture would act.
Too early to predict a gloomy scenario, but whatever the decision is, it could have a tremendous implication on how the Net will shape up.
The US, by itself, will not be able to implement any of the provisions of the CDA, that is certain, and forget what the government says. But it can sure have an impact on how other countries will shape their future legislation.
Law scholars in the US are of the opinion that with or without the CDA, there will be some form of censorship on the Net, whether a majority of Netizens like it or not. Censorship of the Internet is likely to survive in some form after the legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act is heard in the Supreme Court next week.
Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami, has said the court will likely tailor a narrow ruling upholding two of the three provisions of the CDA that criminalise the knowing transmission or display of indecent and patently offensive materials to children over the Internet. Another scholar is reported to have predicted that the court would strike down the CDA and then advise the Congress on how to draft something less clumsy!
The CDA has three basic provisions, with the first two corresponding roughly to e-mail and chat rooms, and the third covering much of the rest of the Internet, including newsgroups, mailing lists and Web pages.
The transmission provision prohibits the knowing transmission of indecent and patently offensive material to children over the Internet.
The specific child provision bans sending such material to a certain person known to be a child. The display provision outlaws the display of indecent material that children might have access to.
The first two might pass muster, but the third display provision stands a clear chance of being struck down under the Freedom of Expression Amendment.
The freedom-of-speech groups are advocating strict parental control of their childrens usage as the only way out of protecting the Net.
The government on the other hand says that it has a legal right and responsibility to restrict indecency on the Internet. The justice department believes that the amount of indecent material on the Internet is staggering, and many children have a strong proclivity to seek it out.
If that is true, and if our children really want to get at stuff on the Net, they are likely to get it with or without the CDA!
However, many refuse to admit to themselves that the Net is in many ways a mirror image of the real world, and that if you are the type of parent who would let his children wander around the drug dens and nightclubs, you shouldnt be complaining that kids find porn and indecency on the Net.
For those who havent woken up yet, it REALLY is a virtual world out there, and you take the safeguards.
Governments want censorship today, data security keys tomorrow not to keep the Net safe for you or tackle terrorists, but because the Net has the potential to threaten nationalities and cultures. It could, in theory, mean the end of politics as we know it.
Eastern nations have been quick to recognise this Singapore and China are examples and are taking frantic measures. They are likely to face the anarchical influence of the Net in the short term, but the US too will face it.
Browser News
Internet Explorer 4.0 is not out yet. But secret previews are already out, and they all point to more holes than a piece of cheese. That is supposed to be due to the integration of the browser with the desktop. Netscape Communicator Preview Release 2 crashes by the minute, but then it doesnt take the whole PC with it!
Internet Explorer 3.0 which we have crashes less regularly, but it is very particular about locking up the PC. Navigator 3.0 has not given us any headaches so far, and its mail is much more integrated than Internet Mail in IE3.0.
Internet Mail is all snazzy and dazzling with animated arrows dipping into and out of inbox and outbox and what not, but then, it has this disturbing habit of refusing to open for a week (even a re-installation doesnt work!) and then suddenly behaving nicely. Have you faced anything similar?
