Human beings are animals that communicate intensively, and all communication systems, beginning with spoken and written languages, are regulated in at least informal ways. Most people feel that there are certain things that should not be said or written and that certain forms of speech and writing are appropriate for different contexts. However, with the development of physical communication systems such as the postal system and even more with that of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and television, regulation guided by ethical principles has become an increasingly prominent feature of those technologies. Ethical principles concerning content and access have created the foundation for regulation of communication systems. Concerns about content include privacy and anonymity, copyright, defamation, censorship, and profanity. Ethical issues relating to access include concerns about the availability of communication systems and control of content production.

Speech and Postal Systems

Law has been used...