OUTLAWING CYBER-SMUT

The Senate bill includes an amendment that has shaken advocates of free speech in cyberspace to the core: a ban on all sexually-explicit or"indecent" material transmitted over online computer services and the Internet. Theso-called Exon amendment, passed late Wednesdayby an 84-16 vote, would impose fines of up to $100,000 and prison terms of up to two years for knowingly transmitting "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent" pictures or comments overelectronic networks that are accessible to anyone under 18. (Another proposal to send cable operators to jail for carrying explicit material failed at the last minute.) "This is a very cynical vote," saysTIME senior technology editor Philip Elmer-DeWitt. "It's unconstitutional, and the first time anybody challenges it, it's going to be thrown out."Jump toNetPolitics