My worst nightmare would be to have the Internet turn into something that eroded civil liberties and free speech.
Predictor: Rotenberg, Marc
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Newsweek, writers Steven Levy, Katie Hafner and Roger Adams quote Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf. They write: ”The cyberspace crowd is most infuriated with the efforts of Sen. James Exon and Rep. Henry Hyde to ban so-called indecent speech on the Internet. Arguments rage ad inifinitum over the amount of digital pictures of naked people on the Net and whether high-tech filters can enable parents to zap the filth. But the language approved by the House-Senate conference committee in early December would slap six-figure fines and jail terms for digitally uttering a nasty word … Despite an Internet Day of Protest where more than 20,000 people flooded congressional offices with phone calls, faxes and e-mail, it’s possible that by next year plain speaking on the Net will be illegal. ‘People like us are going to litigate,’ says Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. ‘The court is where First Amendment issues belong.’ In the meantime, anyone using the unrestrained language that is now as common on the Internet as those smiley-face emoticons will face serious risks. ‘My worst nightmare would be to have the Internet turn into something that eroded civil liberties and free speech,’ says Vint Cerf, an Internet pioneer who now heads MCI’s efforts on the Net.”
Biography:Marc Rotenberg, was founder and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), in the 1990s. He won an EFF Pioneer Award in 1997 for his work as a “champion of privacy, human rights and civil liberties on the electronic frontier.” He targeted the impact of computer and telecommunications technologies on freedom and privacy and was an active writer and speaker on associated topics. (Advocate/Voice of the People.)
Date of prediction: December 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: Newsweek
Title, headline, chapter name: The Year of the Internet
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 26
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney