Gingrich, a long-time supporter of the First Amendment and family values claimed the bill violates adults’ rights to communicate with one another without any restrictions involved.

The Senate’s bill establishes fines of up to $100,000 plus prison terms for people who knowingly transmit or knowingly makes available indecent content to someone under the age of 18. Fortunately the bill is not expected to pass the House.

On-line interactive media is a wealth of information, is highly popular in today’s world and is expanding at an incredible rate. Restrictions on such valuable information and what a person can view should be the responsibility of the parents, not government officials who want to implement more restrictions on American citizens.

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Reps. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are taking a more sensible approach to the issue. Working with the Interactive Working Group, a coalition of more than 50 high-tech companies and civil liberties groups, the representatives are preparing to draft a House amendment which would allow industries to develop technology that would enable parents to control what children have access to over the Internet.

It seems as though the Senate has jumped the gun on an item that is still fairly new. The Senate has posed restrictions on an issue that is still being developed and a far greater issue than they realize. The government should allow the industries to work out all the kinks and implement restrictions where they are needed and keep their hands out of the whole affair.

The Senate’s attack on the information highway is unwarranted at this point in time. The information highway is so new and developing at such a fast rate that in five years it will not be the same medium it is today. The medium should be allowed to develop at its own pace along with any restrictions it may carry along with it. The restrictions should not be imposed by a government too eager to jump on the obscenity bandwagon.

Gingrich’s decision is a welcomed one because it comes at a time when the light of freedom is slowly dimming for the average American citizen. It seems as though everything has to have government approval today. No longer are American citizens allowed the right to make their own decisions concerning how to live their liveson-line communications being a prime example.