The U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM (USACM) has played a vital role in coordinating an important public policy response from a number of computing societies. Through our efforts, the presidents of five of the country's leading computing societies wrote to Sen. James Exon to express concern about the Communication Decency Act of 1995. The bill was introduced by Sen. Exon (D-NE) and Sen. Gorton (R-WA) on February 2, 1995. The original version of the bill would have made telecommunication carriers and individuals criminally liable for any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent" communications carried on their system, including conversations between consenting adults. The penalty was a fine of $100,000 or two years in prison.
The CS presidents expressed concern "about the inap- propriate and improper use of computer networks to send indecent material" but warned of "the potential damage to our nation's communications infrastructure that seems likely to result from the Communication Decency Act as presently drafted." They urged Congress to hold hearings on the proposal.
Apparently Congress listened. In the bill reported out of the Senate Commerce Committee, the Communication Decency Act was modified so that the service providers and non- commercial carriers, such as universities, are not likely to be held legally liable for indecent transmissions. Also, the House sponsor of a similar measure, Rep. Tim Johnson (D-SD), has said he would like to hold hearings before moving the proposal forward. Other aspects of the bill remain intact.
Barbara Simons
Chair, U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM (USACM)
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March 22, 1995
Honorable James Exon
United States Senate
SH-528
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Sen. Exon:
We are writing to you on behalf of the leading computing societies in the United States about the proposed Communication Decency Act. The memberships of our societies include scientists, engineers, and computing practitioners from every university, industrial research institution, government laboratory, and major computer firm in the United States.
We share your concern about the inappropriate and improper use of computer networks to send indecent material. However, we are deeply worried about the potential damage to our nation's communications infrastructure that seems likely to result from the Communication Decency Act as presently drafted. In particular, this legislation would impose unreasonable technical and financial burdens on the increasing number of institutions, large and small, that rely on the Internet for communication. We believe that these burdens will significantly harm the technological and communications opportunities now emerging from the Internet.
The growth of computer networks in the past two decades has been of enormous benefit to the entire country. It is in the national interest to continue encouragement of the technical innovation, economic growth, and world scientific leadership that our nation's computer networks have provided.
To allow a thorough exploration of the issues, we urge you to hold comprehensive hearings on the implications of the Communication Decency Act. We would be pleased to serve as a resource for you in this process, by providing analysis, expertise, and witnesses.
Many thanks for your consideration of our comments. We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Barbara J. Grosz, President
American Association for Artificial Intelligence
Menlo Park, CA
Stuart H. Zweben, President
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY
Eric Roberts, President
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Palo Alto, CA
Ronald Hoelzeman, President
IEEE Computer Society
Washington, DC
Margaret H. Wright, President
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Philadelphia, PA