| Traditionally, censorship and restrictions on speech have been confined to printed, verbal, and symbolic acts of expression. The Internet has created an entirely new context for the restriction of speech and challenges to First Amendment rights. Previously, little reliable data existed to resolve the conflict between freedom of speech and the restrictions to Internet access and usage and electronic communication on university and college campuses. This study is descriptive in nature using qualitative, quantitative, and content analysis measures exploring the nature and extent of restrictions to Internet access and usage on university and college campuses.;Three topics were explored: the characteristics of acceptable use policies with regard to seven legal characteristics (due process, vagueness, restrictiveness, free expression, privacy, obscenity, and user participation) in policy formulation, a comparison of the characteristics of acceptable use policies between public versus private institutions, and a comparison of the characteristics of acceptable use policies among Doctoral, Master's, and Baccalaureate institutions.;Findings from the study indicated a significant level of vagueness and overbreadth in acceptable use policies at universities and colleges. Also, a high percentage of institutions studied did not account for user participation or freedom of expression in their acceptable use policies. It is clear that existing case law was not prepared for the innovation, advent, and subsequent onset of computers, the Internet, and electronic communications. Universities and colleges have not kept up with the changeable nature of legal precedence involving acceptable use policies. |
