NEGATIVE — DISADVANTAGE — FREE SPEECH 184

IMPACTS: VARIOUS

CITIZENS MUST HAVE FREE SPEECH FOR DEMOCRACY TO FUNCTION

O. LEE REED, Professor of Legal Studies, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, " A FREE SPEECH METAVALUE FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM:" American Business Law Journal, Fall 1997, 35 Am. Bus. L.J. 1, EE2001-JGM, P.6-7

  The first of the two speech values discussed by both commentators and the courts is the social value of free speech for the self-government of the democratic community. As James Madison observed: "A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both. . . . [A] people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." n21 The primary medium through which knowledge is obtained and ignorance dispelled is speech, whether in its oral or written forms, and whether through the press or in the modern  [*7]  day through radio, television, and the Internet. Thus, "We, the People" require free political speech for an informed self-government.

PRIVACY CONCERNS ARE OUTWEIGHED BY THE BENEFITS TO INFORMATION CIRCULATION

ROBYN E. BLUMNER St. Petersburg Times, November 07, 1999, SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. 6D TITLE: Phone users' calling records should stay private // acs-EE2001

But Solveig Singleton, director of telecommunications and technology studies at the CATO Institute, cautions about getting the privacy we wish for. "The emphasis on privacy is focused on the obvious worries we all have about information," says Singleton, "but it's overlooked the way consumers benefit from having the information out in the market." Marketing a product to a well-profiled group of potential customers will bring down the price and is a boon for consumers, Singleton notes.

UNJUSTIFIED RESTRICTIONS ON FREE SPEECH ARE WRONG BECAUSE THEY DECREASE AN INDIVIDUAL'S PERSONAL AUTONOMY

Steven J. Heyman, Associate Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, "RIGHTING THE BALANCE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE FOUNDATIONS AND LIMITS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION," Boston University Law Review, December, 1998, 78 B.U.L. Rev. 1275 , EE2001-JGM, P.

Because of their crucial relation to these values, freedom of speech and thought constitute fundamental rights. As we have seen, such rights reflect what it means to be a free person in various spheres of life. To be free in a full sense, a person must be free not only externally, in his body and his relation to the external world, but also internally, with regard to his own inner life of thought and feeling, and in the expression of that inner life. Just as respect for persons mandated recognition of their rights to bodily security, liberty, and property, so it requires respect for individual personality itself, and for the expression and realization of that personality in the world. Thus unjustified restrictions on free speech are wrongful not merely because of the limitations they impose on external liberty, but also in a deeper way, because they obstruct the individual's right to autonomously determine, express, and realize his own personality.

CONCEPTS OF DATA PRIVACY WILL BE USED TO CONTROL THE PRESS

Richard A. Epstein National Review, September 27, 1999, TITLE: Privacy, Please; Thinking about a troublesome concept. // acs-VT2001

If the privacy right is good against the government, it should be equally good against the press. Surely, the press has no greater reason to snoop on private property than the police.

GOVERNMENT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTROL INTERNET CONTENT IF WE ARE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT AS A GLOBAL FREE SPEECH NETWORK

Solveig Singleton, director of information studies at the Cato Institute, 1 Dec 1997 "Brave New Partners in Net censorship"

Freedom of speech on the Internet offers hope to millions of people around the world who live under political regimes that stifle their access to information. But the Internet's freedom depends on its technology. Politicians should be ashamed to set a precedent in this country by pressuring the industry to engineer this freedom out. We do not need a V-chip for the Internet any more than we need a rating system for libraries or bookstores.