The Feds Are Aiming to Clean Up Cyberspace

By TIME correspondent Declan McCullagh /Washington Monday, July 06, 1998
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Internet pornographers, watch out. Stung by Republican complaints and egged on by antiporn activists, the Justice Department recently told federal prosecutors to crack down on smut. "Investigation and prosecution of Internet obscenity is particularly suitable for federal resources," Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a June 10 memo -- sent to U.S. attorneys and obtained by TIME -- which emphasized that no web site is too insignificant. "Prosecution of cases involving relatively small distributors can have a deterrent effect."