THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070380
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
House lawmakers agreed Wednesday on a plan that would make it illegal for a company to knowingly transmit sexually explicit and other ``indecent'' material to minors over computers.
The agreement makes it all but certain that if legislation overhauling telecommunications laws is enacted, it will contain some of the broadest anti-smut provisions ever on computer communications.
The plan is part of negotiations on a larger telecommunications bill and settles differences among House members who were deeply divided over how to best limit children's exposure to smut carried on computer services, including the Internet.
The plan toughens an anti-smut provision of a House telecommunications bill, and aligns it with a provision in the Senate's. ``We're on the road to an agreement that most can agree to,'' said Sen. J. James Exon, D-Neb., author of the Senate's anti-smut provision, which like the House plan bans transmitting indecent material to minors.
Supporters are scrambling to bring a final bill to each chamber for a vote by Dec. 15.
The House's anti-smut plan - a combination of dueling proposals from Rep. Rick White, R-Wash., and Henry Hyde, R-Ill. - would prohibit content providers on a computer service from ``knowingly sending or directly sending'' sexually explicit material to anyone 18 years old or younger.
Companies that provide access to computer networks, like America Online and CompuServe, would not be liable under the provision, White said.
The Department of Justice would enforce the provision, which also carries criminal penalties of up to two years in jail and $100,000 in fines.
Businesses and civil liberties groups opposed Hyde's plan to toughen the House's anti-smut provision by making it illegal for a content provider to knowingly transmit indecent materials. They had rallied behind a proposal from White, whose district includes the headquarters of Microsoft, that would have prohibited only the transmission of materials ``harmful to minors'' and would not have outlawed indecent transmissions.
Religious and conservative lawmakers, however, hailed the House conferees' action. ``We felt we came out of this with a decisive victory,'' said Mike Russell, spokesman for the Christian Coalition, in Chesapeake. ``I think what we are seeing here is a bipartisan effort to stand up for children and families.'' MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and The Los
Angeles Times.
KEYWORDS: PORNOGRAPHY COMPUTER INTERNET by CNB