State and federal authorities have documented dozens of instances in the last few years in which juveniles and adults used the Internet to construct explosives, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Mark James, the ATF's deputy director for intelligence, testified before a Senate committee two years ago that 20 bombing incidents growing out of Internet usage were reported in 1996 alone. M.M.'s lawyer, Daniel Coburn, said he did not know whether his client went to a Web site or how much of a role it played in his alleged bomb making. But the youth would have had no trouble finding such information on the Web by using Internet search engines. Fontoura said the material cannot be kept off the Internet in a free society, but he said parents can be more vigilant.
Parents have to make sure they do a good job of monitoring what their kids are downloading.