Censorship of the Internet

The First Amendment Lost in Cyberspace

Abstract

Computer technology is changing faster than the laws governing it, raising the question of whether laws formuluted to address conflicts arising in the "real world" are applicable to conflicts in "cyberspace." This question is particularly relevant to the debate over sexually explicit material on the Internet. This article argues that because the Supreme Court's current approach to the obscenity is not transferable to cyberspace, a different legal framework is necessary for dealing with "cybersmut."