These are questions that more and more people are asking as the internet's popularity spreads to every little corner of the planet.
The internet is essentially one gigantic world-wide computer network that can be accessed from any computer on a network of its own or with the use of a modem (allowing 2 computers to communicate over phone lines). This huge network contains vast amounts of information that people of all walks of life can use.
Say you play guitar and you want to learn to play a song but you can't buy the tablature book anywhere. The internet supplies the largest amount of guitar tab in the world. Or maybe you are doing research for a science project and you need pictures from the Hubble telescope. NASA has a site with all of that available to you.
Everything from technical information on virtually any topic, to reading about your favourite television programs, or even looking to see what the president's cat looks like. All ofthis is available to internet subscribers for a nominal fee.
But with all forms of information exchange, you have the dark sides and the bad points as well.
Things such as racism, pornography, kiddie porn, and numerous other things, are also available to the common internet "surfer".
Some internet providers have revoked access to certain areas of the "net" to censor items that they feel are inappropriate. Some software programmers are beginning to create programs that will censor fowl language, nudity, and other "inappropriate" behaviour.
Illegal activities such as software piracy, child pornography, and various others are just as illegal on the net as they are in reality, just a lot harder to trace. Because the internet is accessible all over the world, people in Spain could hack computer systems in Canada and because of law restrictions, may never be prosecuted.
One of the major discussions on the internet is censorship. More or less, the internet governs itself. No one owns or runs it and therefore is subject only to the rules of its users. Free speech and the right to express yourself on the internet has been fought over and over again and people believe that by censoring the net, users will lose that ability.
Personally, I believe that an "internet law" should be established between all internet providers that would standardize illegal and offensive material. What may be offensive to some isn't to others, and that should be a major concern of the "internet police". If you go looking for offensive stuff, you will find it, but 95% of the time, it never comes to you. Hopefully, the users and the providers can cooperate to keep the internet running and keep free speech alive.