Internet for prisoners

Hello all.
This thread raises the question on how dangerous it is to give the prisoners access to the Internet while they're doing their time inside the prison.
Is this a wise thing to do? Or should they be forbidden to have communication outside the prison? I'm interested in what kind of damage they can do if they only have access to Internet Explorer.

OctoberOmnicron: Did you guys have Internet? Where some sites filtered and blocked or did you guys have full access to a normal PC?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It doesn't sound wise to me. They're cut off from society for a reason, right? Why tempt them to possibly cause further damage? Besides, the internet is a privalege, not something that's essential to live.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Internet is one of the activitites that's being offered to prisonsers. One of the goverment's goal is to take care of them too. Although they're are bad guys, they's still human.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, well, I always got the internet taken away when I was grounded for not doing something right. XP

And there are a number of civilians who still don't have access to the internet at home.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

You guys never heard of Kevin Mitnick? After his release he talked about some of the myths people had about him, one of them was that he could whistle into a telephone with just the right frequency to launch or detonate an atomic bomb. Imagine what he could have done with access to the Internet!

Anyway, I don't think that's such a wise idea, unless they can only visit certain sites to keep up with the world, like CNN or something. There are too many Internet predators out there as it were, and letting criminals on there will probably just make the problem worse, once they get out. If there were given Internet access, I'd bet all their actions would be spied on, like most companies do to make sure their employees aren't wasting time and goofing off.

I was speaking idiomatically.

"Your tax money pays for prison internets!"

In all seriousness, I think it depends on the circumstance and the nature of the reason for which the person is imprisoned. Violent criminals and the like should be denied access, but there's no reason for... Less easily-influenced inmates to not be allowed access.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Prisoners should be allowed basic rights, such as food, water, place to sleep, etc etc. The internet is not a basic human right. It's a priveledge. Prison should be about punishment first, rehab second.

FELIPE NO

I don't think it's "dangerous." I think it's improper.

When you're a prisoner, innocent or not, you are supposed to not get the luxuries of the outside world. This is pretty much why you're in prison - to have your liberties removed.

The internet grants all sorts of awesome liberties.

Danger, though, I don't see how. Parents should know by now that the internet is not a place for kids to wander around uncontrolled. If an ADULT is stupid enough to fall into a trap with prisoners, what damage can it do? I mean yea, eventually, you'll likely find out that the guy is in prison, if you're smart.

If you're not smart, well. Maybe you can use a lesson.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

It really depends on the crime the prisoner is in for. If someone gets busted for soft drugs, or something of that ilk, I don't think computer privledges are too bad of a thing. For one, it would probably keep the inmates under control if you had that to hold above their heads.

If we're talking about serial murderers and rapists, though, I don't really think they should be given internet time.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think that prisoners should not be allowed the privelege to acces the internet. They are in prison for a reason, they should have the basic needs. Water, food, and somewhere to sleep, and maybe a job to keep them occupied.

The internet is a luxury and should not be accessed by those in prison. They would abuse it, and use it to make their life in prison more comfortable. Life in prison is not meant to be comfortable, it is meant to be a punishment for the crimes that they have committed. There is no way that the prison service can watch all that the prisoners access on the Internet, sure they can put filters on, but I'm sure that some of the prisoners would be able to get around that, and look at whatever they like.

And to think, we're paying for them to have the luxury of surfing the Internet

There's nowhere I can't reach.

People forget that not everyone in prison is some fucking hardened criminal. These people are human.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Nah, I don't think its a great idea. Whether they are all human or not, you don't know what is going through their heads all the time.

Although, if they had a filter system as big as the one in my old high school, I am sure they could do it there. I mean, at school, we couldn't even get to joke sites....

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Nobody has answered my second question
Besides clicking on pornsites (which are probably blocked) or similar sites that contains virus and trojans, what else can a person do?

I'm thinking about the pc/network security. I just want to map out all kinds of possibilities a prison can do with a pc when not observed. Possibly to do any form of hacking if he only has access to the browser?

How ya doing, buddy?

If some computer nerd like Kevin Mitnick gets acces to the internet from prison, that would be a pretty bad thing. They could do all sort of things with no regulation (no matter what the administrators of the network tried, there's always a way out). They could even continue scamming people.

Still, people inside prison need some fun. The prison is not a place to be punished at. It's a place to keep "bad" people away from "good" people. The alck of freedom is punishment enough, I think. They are humans and need information, entertainment, distraction... being in prison must be pretty shitty, it'd be good for them to have some spare time to do something they like for once.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by gaming

Nobody has answered my second question
Besides clicking on pornsites (which are probably blocked) or similar sites that contains virus and trojans, what else can a person do?

I'm thinking about the pc/network security. I just want to map out all kinds of possibilities a prison can do with a pc when not observed. Possibly to do any form of hacking if he only has access to the browser?

Imagine a pedophile. A pedophile with internet access and a few distractions or corruption from the guards could lead to a disaster. Also, scammers.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It's obvious that when you become a prisoner, you lose all rights, including the one to a fair trial. Because, after all, if you weren't supposed to do bad things, God wouldn't have let you. So it's clear that you are not ever going to go to heaven, and should just rot in prison forever.

How ya doing, buddy?

I think we're beginning to move over to the discussion whether it's right or wrong of the government to take away their right of getting information.
Some of them is going to have an afterlife when they have done their time.

Activitites are important. How would you feel if the only social event of the week was bingo on saturdays?
They should not be punished as humans, but punished for the crime that they have committed.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Capo

People forget that not everyone in prison is some fucking hardened criminal. These people are human.

In absolute agreement. What about everyones favorite prisoner OO. I bet not one person here would vote against internet access to prisoners while he was behind bars.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

They get TV, don't they? They can watch the news... I'm sure there are books and newspaper around too. It's not like the internet has to be the ONLY source of entertainment. I don't see why it's seen as such an essential sometimes.

Do they do Bingo? I know there are other activities to keep prisoners occupied. I had a professor in art college who gave some art lessons at a prison. It's not like there's absolutely nothing.

As for what they could do on the internet... well, think about what the internet is... Information Super Highway. It's not just hackings, but also things with pedophiles, internet bullying, and fake identities. Not that anyone can't do that stuff, it's just more worrisome if it's people who they could prevent from doing those things.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't think it's safe. Who knows what kind of potential they have? With the internet, you can do a lot of things that you could use to your own advantage. Think about a prisoner and why he's in there in the jail cell in the first place. He's a criminal. Unless he's a stupid criminal, chances are that communication on the net can invoke suspicious activity and ideas. There are criminals that get released and return to crime. If that's not bad enough, who knows who or what he might be targeting next? I know this particular planning doesn't have anything to necessarily do with the net, but it could.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The biggest thing I would worry about is the inmate being in contact with undesirable people on the outside. How do you destroy a group like the KKK if everyone you arrest can still communicate with each other as members. Even though they are incarcerated and can do no physical harm to innocent people, it does not help to break the person of his ideology.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by ionuk tomb

The biggest thing I would worry about is the inmate being in contact with undesirable people on the outside. How do you destroy a group like the KKK if everyone you arrest can still communicate with each other as members.

Perhaps that communication could be used to the benefit of bringing down such an organization, though. Chat logs and such could be used as 'tip-offs' if that's a legitimate form of evidence. Should prisons go out of their way to have internet access? No, but allowing prisoners to use the internet under highly monitored circumstances seems fine.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Wouldn't happen if the convicts knew it was going to be monitored. Couldn't happen if the convicts didn't know about it being monitored.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'd have to say no, they don't need it. Sure, they're humans and all, but they're still behind bars for a reason (even if it's not for murder or grand larceny).

Prison life for the most part (at least in America), has never been better than ever before. In the Roman Empire for example, prisoners didn't even get fed, they'd have to rely on compassionate people to give them food, otherwise they'd just starve to death.

I once took a tour of a prison when I was in the National Guard, because my unit was the "back-up" unit in case the guards all went on strike (or there was a prison riot, and the guards and all their back-up needed more help), in which case we were to be the guards to keep the prisoners in check.

From what I saw (I think it was a medium security prison), they got access to schooling, gyms, religious functions, tv's (albeit not a personal one), etc. I noticed that while they were playing ball, if the ball fell out of the court, they couldn't go get it, they had to wait for a guard to throw it back to them (not sure why, unless it was to prevent them from passing stuff along the ground or something).

Prisoners have enough stuff to keep them busy. They don't need taxpayers to spend money on getting computers and then internet access for them.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be against them having video games. I'm sure it would occupy them for a long period of time (and hopefully no violence erupts from it because some guy lost a match), and I'd rather they're playing a game than thinking about how to rob the next guy when they get out.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Gecko3

In the Roman Empire for example, prisoners didn't even get fed, they'd have to rely on compassionate people to give them food, otherwise they'd just starve to death.

I'm not sure what you're referencing here. The Romans had no penitentiaries. The only jails were used for brief storage. Criminals were made into slaves, executed, exiled, or made into gladiators.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Acro-nym

I'm not sure what you're referencing here. The Romans had no penitentiaries. The only jails were used for brief storage. Criminals were made into slaves, executed, exiled, or made into gladiators.

Usually crucified....

The entrance to Rome had crucified people along the road heading to the city.. Could you imagine that sight?.....

Jam it back in, in the dark.