On Mon, 19 Jun 1995 20:12:58 +0200, Eric Thomas wrote:
>Let me put it  this way. If this act passes, the Internet  as we know it,
>and AOL,  CompuServe and others,  are dead.
 
Probably not.  In the first place, even the current conservative Supreme
Court is likely to rule it unConstitutional.  And even if it gets by the
Court, how does it survive the fact that other than Justice Stewart's "I
know it when I see it" no one has succeeded in defining obscene.  Beyond
that, see below...
 
>Incidentally,  I  find  the   part  about  "foreign"  communication  very
>interesting.  It  appears  that  the  US has  now  decided  that  it  has
>jurisdiction  over the  entire  world :-)
 
Aside from a few U.S. Senators who've clearly spent too much time confined
inside the Beltway, most of us regard the US juristiction as limited by 3
miles, 12 miles, or 200 miles (these days even borders are ambiguious).
Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that it's going to be VERY INTERESTING
watching that law try to deal with material available by anonymous ftp from
hosts in countries without reciprocal treaties with the US (and there are
many such places).
 
Think of the money to be made setting up hosts in the Cayman Islands
(hmmm... could I make as much a Mr. Bill? ;-)
 
/s Murphy A. Sewall <[log in to unmask]> (203) 486-2489 voice
   Professor of Marketing                          (203) 486-5246 fax