Getting Involved

The Effective means to change is to make your voice heard.

There are many ways to voice your concern over this issue. I will try to detail some effective measures of protest which can make a difference. We know that child pornography is wrong, that exploitation and sexual abuse of children is wrong. We would most likely agree that censorship is wrong. But is censorship an issue when dealing with material which is declared illegal by U.S law? In agreement with the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) on the position of child pornography on the internet, it is logical to assert that you cannot censor someones thoughts or fantasies. The discussion of these thoughts and fantasies would constitute free speech and should not be repressed. Newsgroups which function as picture-trading groups have crossed the line of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The ACLU has agreed and have stated that it is the responsibility of the Internet Service Provider, not the government, to exercise oversight into the use of their networks for the purpose of conducting illegal activities of any kind. This may hint of "Big Brother," or an authoritarian stance which would crack-down on other forms of expression. That need not be the case. Remember that not every Internet Service Provider carries every newsgroup. They are not obligated to, but rather, they elect to carry certain groups and not to carry others. I do not believe that any one ISP carries every single newsgroup. So, we are left to assume that most ISP's have elected to carry, or make available to us the child pornograpy newsgroups. Groups such as ALT.SEX.PEDOPHILIA.GIRLS and ALT.BINARIES.PICTURES.EROTICA.CHILDREN.

So I have accumulated a small list of the major ISP's in the United States. The list is presented as hypertext links, but they don't take you to the website of the ISP itself. Instead, when you click on a highlighted link, your mail program should open up and the address will be filled out to the appropriate contact person in that specific organization. I would stress that if you have feelings on this subject, that you make them known to any or all the major Internet Service Providers. If you don't tell them what your thinking, then they will never get it. They will never know. And worse, things will not change.

Ive also included links to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. There are many persons in congress who are sympathetic to this issue. To name a few; Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D), Susan Molinari (R), Barbara Boxer (D) and Pete Domenici (R). These are people who have spoken out on this issue and feel passionately about the issue of child pornography and the exploitation of children.

And though, at times it may seem futile, it never hurts to email or write your local representatives. In the link to the House of Representatives is a search function to find out who represents your district. There is also a state-by-state listing of how to contact them via email. Its important to let them know that this IS an important issue.

National Internet Service Providers:

Netcom
InfiNet
Mindspring
AT&T WorldNet Service
Robt J. Massey. President and CEO of CompuServe
Concentric Network
USA.NET
GTE Internet Solutions
Whole Earth Networks
Primenet
America Online

Legislative Action:

U.S.Senate
U.S.House of Representatives