by Bruce W. Coffman

Created on: August 05, 2008

Pornography on the internet is no different from pornography in "real life" and is actually protected as free speech under the First Amendment. That's why it's out there. That's why adults can go to book and video stores and buy pornographic magazines and videos.

In media law classes in college I was taught that pornography is legal. Obscenity is not. There is a fine line between the two and recognizing and proving it is a difficult, treacherously slippery slope for lawmakers and law enforcement because of the potential violations of freedom of speech. Therefore, who would be regulating this issue and how would they go about the delineation between pornography and obscenity?

As a writer, I hold firmly to the First Amendment and vigorously defend the rights of free speech for everyone, even those with whom I do not agree. Regardless of whether you feel pornography is morally wrong or not, you have to agree to allowing it to be regulated on the internet by government officials is a scary proposition. What would be next? What if one of the blogs you wrote offended someone? Should it be taken down or the offensive part blotted out?

There is also what is called the "safety valve effect" of pornography. It actually serves a purpose and has traditionally been allowed because it gives people a release for their sexual energy. It's use has actually been shown to have a cathartic effect that dissipates sexual urges and may prevent people from acting out violent fantasies. Of course other camps, usually religious right wing organizations, have their studies that show this is not the case and that pornography is going to send us down the path of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is an issue that will continue to be widely debated, but until one side can prove their case 100% conclusively with scientific data, there is merit to at least considering the safety valve theory of pornography. Ironically, if you truly read and study the arguments of the anti-pornography groups, what they are describing is obscenity and not pornography in the first place. They need to get their definitions straight before they start making demands for regulation.

It basically comes down to individual responsibility, like so many issues in which you have people screaming for government regulation. It is not and should not be the responsibility of the government or the companies who provide internet services to pick and choose what adults can see. The argument has been made that the internet is too easily accessible

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