One of the things this Senator feels we should properly address, and will address and hopefully act on in a fair and reasonable fashion … is the matter of trying to clean up the Internet – or the information superhighway, as it is frequently called – to make that superhighway a safe place for our children and our families to travel on.
Predictor: Exon, James
Prediction, in context:In 1995 Sen. James Exon, D-Neb., proposed an amendment to the Telecommunications Act. This is an excerpt from Exon’s statement, which is included the Congressional Record report from June 9, 1995: ”There has been a great amount of behind-the-scenes activity. There has been a great amount of activity on the Internet system, and I am here today to outline the measure that I will offer as a substitute to the measure that was reported unanimously out of the Commerce Committee, called the ‘Exon decency bill with regard to the Internet.’ … Obviously, everyone knows of the dramatic developments in telecommunications since 1934. It is about time we do something … One of the things this Senator feels we should properly address, and will address and hopefully act on in a fair and reasonable fashion … is the matter of trying to clean up the Internet – or the information superhighway, as it is frequently called – to make that superhighway a safe place for our children and our families to travel on … at this time I send an amendment to the desk and ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record and held at the desk. I will formally call it up for consideration sometime next week … In title IV of the telecommunications reform bill, as my colleagues know, title IV includes legislation that I have worked on for about a year to make the Internet and other aspects of the information superhighway safer for our families and for our children to travel.”
Biography:James Exon, a U.S. senator from Nebraska, was the author of the Communications Decency Act, passed by the U.S. Senate in 1995. The controversial legislation contained sweeping language barring “obscene,” “indecent” or “harassing” communications online or via phone or fax. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)
Date of prediction: June 9, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: Congressional Record
Title, headline, chapter name: Communications Decency Act
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r104:1:./temp/~r104Uzm12X:e46:
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Dube, Kristin