Word: cda
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...post daily dispatches to the "fight censorship" E-mail list. The whole information revolution was jeopardized, the cybernauts believed, by a primly named federal statute called the Communications Decency Act. Signed into law by President Clinton on Feb. 8, after being passed by an admittedly Net-illiterate Congress, the CDA was supposed to squelch online pornography and make the Net safe for children by banning "indecent" content. But the legislation was so vague and broad that uploading Ulysses to the World Wide Web could have been construed as a felony offense punishable by a $250,000 fine and two years...
However, the CDA also makes it a crime to transmit "indecent" material over the Internet. While the courts have not defined this term as clearly, curse words and images of nudity probably fall into this category. As one critic of the CDA notes, the presence of indecent material in motion pictures separates a 'G' rating from...
Many opponents of the CDA see nothing wrong with more protection for children on the Internet to avoid obscenity. In fact, America Online and CompuServe already have parental control features to let kids use their services without being exposed to unsuitable material. Similar programs, like SurfWatch, provide filters for the users directly accessing the Internet...
...without challenges, of course. Civil rights groups in and out of cyberspace, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sued to test the constitutionality of the law. Yesterday, a federal judge banned the goverment from enforcing the law until he hears arguments on the lawsuit. Many observers believe the CDA will be found to violate First Amendment rights of speech and expression...
...just in case, contact your Representative and Senators to urge them to vote to repeal the CDA. Just remember: if you send them e-mail, don't curse...