from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Communications Decency Act
<legal> (CDA) An amendment to the U.S. 1996 Telecommunications
Bill that went into effect on 1996-02-08. The law, originally
proposed by Senator James Exon to protect children from
obscenity on the Internet, ended up making it punishable by
fines of up to $250,000 to post indecent language on the
Internet anywhere that a minor could read it.
Thousands of outraged {Internet} users turned their {web
pages} black in protest or displayed the {Electronic Frontier
Foundation}'s special {icons}.
On 1996-06-12, a three-judge panel in Philadelphia ruled the
CDA unconstitutional and issued an injunction against the
United States Justice Department forbidding them to enforce
the "indecency" provisions of the law. Internet users
celebrated by displaying an animated "Free Speech" fireworks
icon to their web pages, courtesy of the {Voters
Telecommunications Watch}. The Justice Department appealed
the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
(1996-11-03)