Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Aclu V. Reno: Congress Places Speed Bumps On The Information Superhighway, Dharmesh S. Vashee
Aclu V. Reno: Congress Places Speed Bumps On The Information Superhighway, Dharmesh S. Vashee
Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act ("CDA") in an effort to regulate indecent speech on the Internet. Through the CDA, Congress sought to protect children from easily accessible, harmful materials on the Internet. In spirit, the law had noble intentions; however, on its face, the CDA raised serious constitutional questions and was immediately challenged by First Amendment advocates in ACLU v. Reno ("Reno I"). Using broad and vague terms such as "indecent" and "patently offensive," the CDA threatened to restrict adult access to a tremendous amount of speech that was constitutionally protected. Additionally, through the imposition of criminal …
You Can't Always Get What You Want: Government's Good Intentions V. The First Amendment's Prescribed Freedoms In Protecting Children From Sexually-Explicit Material On The Internet, Abbigale E. Bricker
You Can't Always Get What You Want: Government's Good Intentions V. The First Amendment's Prescribed Freedoms In Protecting Children From Sexually-Explicit Material On The Internet, Abbigale E. Bricker
Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
Once a small and diverse community of a handful of government computers, the Internet has expanded to an estimated 157 million users worldwide. According to current studies, the fastest growing user populations on the Internet are thirteen to eighteen year-olds and five to twelve year-olds. In addition, the latest "research . . . predicts that the number of children online [will increase] by 155% between 1998 and 2002."
Canning Spam: Compuserve, Inc. V. Cyber Promotions, Inc., Steven E. Bennett
Canning Spam: Compuserve, Inc. V. Cyber Promotions, Inc., Steven E. Bennett
University of Richmond Law Review
The rapid development of the Internet as a source of information and as a means of communication has caused courts and legislatures to scramble to integrate old legal structures into a new framework. The characteristic of near-instantaneous access to millions of subscribers of various Internet service providers (ISPs) has attracted the attention of commercial advertisers, especially those seeking mass audiences. The Internet has also fostered the proliferation of electronic mail (e-mail) as a means of communication. Further, it has attracted the attention of Congress, where there are currently three bills pending which would restrict or prohibit unsolicited e-mail advertising. The …
The Communications Decency Act: Aborting The First Amendment?, Sheryl L. Herndon L. Herndon
The Communications Decency Act: Aborting The First Amendment?, Sheryl L. Herndon L. Herndon
Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
On February 8, 1996, President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law and explained that the legislation would "stimulate investment, promote competition, [and] provide open access for all citizens to the Information Superhighway." However, contrary to the goal of "opening wide the door to the Information Age," provisions of the Act violate the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech by imposing far-reaching new federal criminal liabilities on Americans who exercise their free speech rights on the Internet. In particular, a little-noticed provision of the Act, which expands an 1873 law banning abortion-related speech by criminalizing Internet …