Communications Decency Act


Communications Decency Act

(legal)(CDA) An amendment to the U.S. 1996 TelecommunicationsBill that went into effect on 08 February 1996, outragingthousands of Internet users who turned their web pagesblack in protest. The law, originally proposed by SenatorJames Exon to protect children from obscenity on the Internet,ended up making it punishable by fines of up to $250,000 topost indecent language on the Internet anywhere that a minorcould read it.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation created public domainblue ribbon icons that many web authors downloaded anddisplayed on their web pages.

On 12 June 1996, a three-judge panel in Philadelphia ruled theCDA unconstitutional and issued an injunction against theUnited States Justice Department forbidding them to enforcethe "indecency" provisions of the law. Internet userscelebrated by displaying an animated "Free Speech" fireworksicon to their web pages, courtesy of the Voters Telecommunications Watch. The Justice Department hasappealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.