[logo] Communications Decency Act

of the Telecommunications Act of 1996

Information compiled for SCEN167 in Spring 1996.

On-Line Newspaper's Provocation to Test Decency Act, from NYTimes
Newshare archive of "Indecency" Law Statements

Original Listing:

The legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act has grown stronger with the merger of two civil lawsuits into a single action in which the plaintiffs include the American Library Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union, a number of other civil rights groups, America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, Microsoft Network, Netcom, and Microsoft. The CDA makes it a felony to knowingly transmit "indecent" or patently offensive sexual material over communications networks where children may see it. Judith Krug of the ALA says: "The Internet is the communications medium for the 21st century, and the most important thing that has happened to communications since the printing press. Our main argument is that you cannot limit ideas and information to the lowest common denominator, which is what this law does. It is unconstitutional to force adults to limit the information they can see to a level suitable for children."
(Quoted by Educom from New York Times 26 Feb 96 C2)

Back to SCEN103 Home Page.
Comments, suggestions, or requests to ghw@udel.edu.

"http://www.physics.udel.edu/~watson/scen103/decency.html"
Last updated Dec. 11, 1996.
Copyright George Watson, Univ. of Delaware, 1996.