Pornography and the International Internet: Internet Content Regulation in Australia and the United States

In response to a vast concern about the widespread availability of pornographic materials on the Internet, the United States legislature passed the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Just prior to this legislation, the Australian government began investigating possible regulatory schemes for online content, culminating in the Broadcasting Services Amendment of 1999, which attempted to address the presence of pornographic material on the Internet. This article discusses, compares and analyzes the American and Australian systems of content regulation on the Internet and the effect that such legislation has had on content hosts