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n February 8th, the controversial Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 was signed into law. The law unshackles telecommunications from decades of regulation in the hope that the industry will move faster to exploit recent leaps in technology. It is the first major reform in telecommunications law in nearly 60 years.But the future President Clinton speaks of is already here, and it's called the Internet. On February 8th, the Net erupted in a storm of protest over a provision of the new law that bans online transmission of "indecent" material. On the World Wide Web, cyberpublishers signaled their commitment to the First Amendment -- "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" -- by blacking out the backgrounds of their sites and displaying blue ribbons. Other opponents of the bill warned that jobs would be lost through further consolidation of the industry. Cable and telephone rates, they claim, are likely to rise if the promised competition fails to emerge. Supporters of the bill insisted it would boost jobs, expand consumer choices, and lower prices for cable, telephone, and other communications services. In reaction to the bill's indecency provisions -- punishment can include two-year prison terms and $100,000 fines -- a professor and former Texas judge wrote a scabrous essay peppered with "dirty words," which was posted on the day of the bill's signing by Joe Shea, editor in chief of the online newspaper American Reporter. "Today we're going to war," Shea said in an editorial. Lawyers for the American Reporter, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, and others filed constitutional challenges in federal court. For the moment, Shea's challenge and similar acts of protest on the Net are safe, protected by a temporary restraining order blocking federal prosecution under the new law.
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