Ŀ
                 AFA Continues to Demand Smut Investigations                 
                                                                             
                                                                             
It's refreshing to detect the note of frustration that runs through the      
latest press release from the American Family Association...                 
                                                                             
It seems the AFA is unaccustomed to having folks in Washington rebuff its    
alarmist cries to "protect the children" by censoring free speech.           
                                                                             
But indeed, that seems to be the case.  The Columbus Dispatch recently       
reported that the FBI *will not* launch an investigation of CompuServe       
following the AFA's accusations that the service is "making pornography      
available to children."                                                      
                                                                             
Of course, ol' Pat Trueman isn't giving up without a fight.  Having been     
thwarted by the FBI, he's now whining to Janet Reno and some members of      
Congress that not enough is being done to uphold his cherished               
Communications Decency Act.                                                  
                                                                             
Other highlights:                                                            
                                                                             
-- The AFA asserts that, "The fact that CompuServe allows parents to block   
pornography is not sufficient to block liability under the Communications    
Decency Act."  No doubt the judges in Philadelphia would be interested to    
hear this.                                                                   
                                                                             
-- Trueman's absurd claim is that "children have unlimited access to         
pornography on CompuServe."                                                  
                                                                             
-- My personal favorite: "It does no good for Congress to pass laws to       
protect children if the FBI is unwilling to enforce them... I hope you will  
not stand by while the FBI guts the recently passed Communications Decency   
Act through it's refusal to do it's job."                                    
                                                                             
The full text of Trueman's fulmination follows below.                        
                                                                             
Work the network!                                                            
                                                                             
--Todd Lappin-->                                                             
Section Editor                                                               
WIRED Magazine                                                               
                                                                             
========================================================                     
                                                                             
American Family Association                                                  
                                                                             
Washington, D.C. Office                                                      
                                                                             
PRESS RELEASE                                                                
Contact: Patrick A. Trueman                                                  
(202) 544-0061                                                               
                                                                             
For Immediate Release               Thursday May 9, 1996                     
                                                                             
The American Family Association is pressing its complaint against            
CompuServe for making pornography available to children, despite comments    
by the FBI in today's Columbus Dispatch that it will not initiate an         
investigation.  In a letter today to Janet Reno, AFA Director of             
Governmental Affairs Patrick Trueman said, "If CompuServe's actions, in      
providing pornography to children, is not a violation of the Communications  
Decency Act, then what it?"  Trueman asked Attorney General Reno to          
personally review AFA's complaint against CompuServe.  "Making pornography   
available to children, as CompuServe has done, is exactly what the CDA was   
designed to prevent."                                                        
                                                                             
"The fact that CompuServe allows parents to block pornography is not         
sufficient to block liability under the Communications Decency Act,"         
Trueman said.  Congress anticipated that on-line companies would block out   
all pornography that they may provide to their users on their service        
unless an adult specifically requests it.  CompuServe has turned the law on  
its head, by providing pornography to all its users, including children,     
claiming that it should be the parents' responsibility to block out such     
material.  By CompuServe's own figures, far less than 1% of parents have     
initiated parental controls (only .128%).  Trueman suggests that this is     
likely because few parents are aware that their children have unlimited      
access to pornography on CompuServe.                                         
                                                                             
AFA is also contacting congressional sponsors of the Communications Decency  
Act to alert them to the FBI's refusal to pursue the CompuServe matter.      
"It does no good for Congress to pass laws to protect children is the FBI    
is unwilling to enforce them," Trueman said in his letter to Members of      
Congress.  "I hope you will not stand by while the FBI guts the recently     
passed Communications Decency Act through it's refusal to do it's job."      
                                                                             
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