***** House Moves to Block Internet Censorship

by Bruce Mirken

In a move that may bode well for AIDS educators and

activists, the House of Representatives acted in late July to

block Senator James Exon's (D-NE) "Communications Decency

Act." Exon's measure, an amendment to the telecommunications

deregulation bill, contained sweeping language barring

"obscene," "indecent" or "harassing" communications online or

via phone or fax. Observers feared it would block online

distribution of AIDS prevention information as well as bar

activist phone/fax "zaps" of drug company and government

officials. (See AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #227, July 21, 1995, for

a detailed discussion of the amendment's implications.)

Exon's measure breezed through the Senate, but the House --

perhaps spurred by Speaker Newt Gingrich's opposition to the

Exon amendment -- took a directly opposite tack. It voted

420 to 4 to add to its version of the telecommunications bill

an amendment sponsored by Reps. Christopher Cox (R-CA) and

Ron Wyden (D-OR) specifically designed to counter Exon. The

Cox-Wyden amendment would protect from liability any online

service (such as Prodigy or America Online) that voluntarily

restricts access to materials considered obscene or

objectionable while specifically barring the Federal

Communications Commission from regulating the Internet or

online services.

Complicating things, though, is an additional amendment

successfully offered by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) that would

modify obscenity laws to "criminalize some forms of online

speech," according to a WASHINGTON POST account. The

apparent conflict between the two amendments as well as the

clear conflict between the House and Senate bills will have

to be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee. The

date for that meeting and the membership of the conference

committee will be determined after Congress reconvenes in

September.

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