Clinton Backs Internet 'Decency Act'

["Joseph M. Reagle Jr." <reagle@MIT.EDU>]

At odds with what gore said.....
                         
>         WASHINGTON (Reuter) - President Clinton says the  
>Communications Decency Act is a legal way to protect children 
>from online obscenity, despite a three-judge panel's ruling that 
>blocks large parts of the act. 
>         ``I remain convinced, as I was when I signed the bill, that  
>our Constitution allows us to help parents by enforcing this Act 
>to prevent children from being exposed to objectionable material 
>transmitted through computer networks,'' Clinton said in a 
>statement Wednesday. 
>         He said he would continue to work to shield children from  
>such material and supports ``the development and widespread 
>availability of products that allow both parents and schools to 
>block objectionable materials from reaching computers that 
>children use.'' 
>         Clinton also applauded the communications industry's efforts  
>to rate Internet sites so they are compatible with blocking 
>techniques. 
>         The act, signed into law as part of the sweeping  
>Telecommunications Act of 1996, prohibits the distribution to 
>minors of indecent or ``patently offensive'' materials over 
>computer networks. 
>         The three judges issued an injunction blocking portions of  
>the Communications Decency Act, but let stand prohibitions 
>against obscenity and child pornography and types of speech that 
>are not constitutionally protected. 
>                
>
>
_______________________
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Joseph  Reagle      http://farnsworth.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html
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