After threatening the Communications Decency Act with a vetos of the past versions, President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on February 8, 1996.1 Before hand, congress approved the largest change of the nation's communications laws in 62 years. One of the largest controversial topicsincluded in the bill is the censorship of pornography, which now is astrenuously enforced crime of distributing knowingly to children under 18. Thecongress overwhelmingly passed the bill with a landslide 414-16 House vote anda 91-5 Senate vote.2 It seems now that the wide bill might not be what itcracked up to be, as it stands now, anyone who might upload James Joyce'sUlysses could be placed in jail for two years and have up to a $250,000 fine.3Representatives of on-line services industries were concerned about the bill,and feared they could be held criminally responsible for Internetconversations.4"We face a unique disturbing and urgent circumstance, because it is childrenwho are the computer experts in our nations families," remarked a concernedRep. Senator of India Dan Coats.5 Although in reality, censorship would dolittle to stop the pornography problems. The bill is a nation legislationtrying to control a international network, which is virtually impossible.According to the First Amendment, Americans were granted to write anything theyplease, whether it's indecent or not, several series of judicial decisions alsohelped the freedom down the road.6Nebraskan Democrat James Exon, put together an informational binder known asthe Blue Book to show the Senate about the goings on within the Internet.7Along the pages of the Blue Book were pictures of people bound and being burnedby cigarettes, people pierced with swords and people involved in sexualactivities with animals.8 The Senate, acknowledging their ignorance of theInternet, passed Exon's proposal after seeing the pictures in the Blue Book.9Along with distribution of pornography, a person ca...
