The Communications Decency Act :: essays research papers

The Communications Decency Act     The Communications Decency Act that was signed into law by electric chairClinton over a year ago is clearly in need of serious revisions due, not only toits vagueness, but mostly due to the fact that the administration is infringing onour freedom of speech, may it be improper or not. The Communications DecencyAct, also know by profit users as the CDA, is an Act that aims to removeindecent or dangerous text, lewd images, and other things deemed inappropriatefrom public areas of the net. The CDA is mainly out to protect children.     In the beginning, the anonymity of the Internet caused it to become a haven for the free trading of pornography. This is mainly what gives theInternet a bad name. There is also information on the Net that could be harmfulto children. Information on how to make home-made explosives and similar infosuch as The Jolly Rodgers and the Anarchists Cookbook are easily obtained onthe Net . Pedophiles (people attracted to child porn) also have a throw in to hideon the Internet where nobody has to know their real name. As the average age ofthe Internet user has started to drop, it has became apparent that something hasto be done or so the pornography and other inappropriate info on the net.     On February 1, 1995, Senator Exon, a Democrat from Nebraska, and SenatorGorton, a Republican from Washington, introduced the first bill towardsregulating online porn. This was the first prosopopoeia of theTelecommunications Reform Bill.     On April 7, 1995, Senator Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, introducesbill S714. Bill S714 is an alternative to the Exon/Gorton bill. This billcommissions the Department of Justice to study the problem to see if speciallegislature (such as the CDA) is even necessary.     The Senate passed the CDA as attached to the Telecomm reform bill onJune 14, 1995 with a vote of 84-16. The Lea hy bill does not pass, but issupported by 16 Senators that actually understand what the Internet is. Sevendays later, several prominent House members publicly announce their oppositionto the CDA, including Newt Gingrich, Chris Cox, and Ron Wyden. On family 26,1995, Senator Russ Feingold urges committee members to drop the CDA from theTelecommunications Reform Bill.     On Thursday, February 1, 1996, Congress passed (House 414-9, Senate 91-5) the Telecommunications Reform Bill, and attached to it the CommunicationsDecency Act. This day was known as "Black Thursday" by the Internet community.One week later, it was signed into law by President Clinton on Thursday,February 8, 1996, also known as the "Day of Protest.