EFF, ACLU, CDT, ALA, a Citizen Coalition, & Others File Suit to Stop
the Telecom Bill's Comm. Decency
Amendment - constitutional challenge seeks injunction against
enforcement. (Feb. 7, 1996).
Full text of lawsuit, and other relevant docs, available (including
testimony summaries, updates, etc.).(Feb. 16, 1996)
The full text of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 Note: this file is over 300K. (Feb. 1)
Title V of the Telecom
Act, also known as the "Communications Decency"
Amendment (CDA), passed Feb. 1 by Congress. (Feb. 2, 1996)
Dept. of Justice agrees to enforce neither "indecency" nor "patently
offensiveness" bans and again acknowledges that abortion-info ban is
unconstitutional
Judge says CDA is unconstititional, issues restraining order against
enforcement of some CDA provisions! (Feb. 15, 1996) Full text of decision available
- Next court date: May 10. Mail for latest update on
status of the Internet censorship bills (just send empty message - it's an
infobot - but be sure it includes a return address in headers.)
- EFF has issued an open
letter to all members of the Internet community regarding compliance
with the Communications "Decency" Act (Feb. 12, 1996).
- Sens. Pat Leahy (D-VT) &
Russ Feingold (D-WI) announce introduction of legislation to repeal the CDA;
Leahy joins Internet
censorship protest on his WWW page
(Feb. 9, 1996). See also Sen.
Leahy's statement on the repeal action before the Senate.(Feb. 9, 1996)
- Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduces new bill to amend the CDA
. Also available: Brief EFF
statement regarding this bill, and
Eshoo's staff summary of the bill
- Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-CO)
has announced legislation to repeal the
ban
on abortion information in the Telecom Bill (and the Comstock Act),
though not the "indecency" provisions. (Feb. 6., 1996).
- Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
issued a press release denouncing the CDA (he was one of the few to vote
against it) and announcing his support for protests (Feb. 7, 1996).
- American Reporter also files suit challenging the CDA on
constitutional grounds (Feb. 8, 1996.) Update: Like the other cases,
also scheduled for an upcoming hearing before a 3-judge panel (Feb. 16, 1996)
As a challenge to the CDA, American Reporter e-published (Feb 9)
"THE X-ON CONGRESS: INDECENT
COMMENT ON AN INDECENT SUBJECT", an editorial by Steve Russell, a
professor and retired Texas judge.
-
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, et al, also
filed suit challenging the
constitutionality of the Telecom Bill's ban on online distribution of
abortion-related info (again
Justice Dept. agrees it is unconstitutional.
(Feb. 7, 1996) Various declarations and other documents from the case
are available.
- EFF analysis of the content,
process, and impact of the
unconstitutional "Communications Decency" amendment to the
Telecom Bill, passed Feb. 1 by Congress. (Feb. 2, 1996).
- For more analysis, legislative texts & related material, see:
- Pictures & audio from the Feb. 10 Internet free speech rally in
Washington DC (Feb. 12, 1996)
- CDA Signed into Law
by Clinton (Feb. 8, 1996).
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