Telcom bill report

["E. ALLEN SMITH" <EALLENSMITH@mbcl.rutgers.edu>]

	Here's the additional info from Reuters. As usual, Clinton is being a
coward. For additional Cypherpunks relevance, anonymous remailer operators in
the US may need to watch out.
	-Allen

   Reuters New Media
   
   _ Thursday December 21 2:11 PM EST _
   
Congress Reaches Compromise On Telecom Reform

   WASHINGTON - Congressional conferees have agreed to a sweeping reform
   of telecommunications law that would open competition by allowing the
   telephone, cable and broadcast industries to invade the others' turf.
   
   Vice President Gore says President Clinton will sign the bill. Before
   the agreement, the president had been threatening for months to veto
   the bill if Republicans in Congress did not retreat on a long list of
   issues. They retreated.
   
   Vice President Al Gore said "This will unleash a new era in the
   telecommunications revolution and speed completion of the information
   highway."
   
   The bill would also impose tough new restrictions on sexual material
   on online services. It has been bitterly opposed by civil rights
   groups who say the controls on sexual content constitute censorship.
   
   The legislation would impose fines of up to $100,000 and prison terms
   of up to two years on people who make "indecent" material
   available to minors over computer networks. That could pose big
   problems for companies that provide online information services.
   
   The "cyberporn" issue was championed by conservative
   religious groups, including the Christian Coalition, and is certain to
   provoke a new courtroom battle over Constitutional rights to free
   speech.