#!/usr/local/bin/perl # Copyright 1996 Kurt Pires. All rights reserved. # Copyright 1997 Kurt Pires. All rights reserved. # Permission to use all or portions of this code may be obtained # via e-mail from: kjpires@iat.com print <<'EOP'; S.652 -- Telecommunications Act of 1996

S.652 -- Telecommunications Act of 1996

I obtained the text of the act from ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c104/s652.enr.txt and it can be read online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:S.652:.

I added the links to the United States Code listings at the Legal Information Institute of the Cornell Law School using s652.enr.pl to make it easier to follow on-line. I've also added links to the Code of Federal Regulations provide by the United States Government Printing Office.

I've been trying to go through the act to find what is actually wrong with it. Here's what I've found so far:

Sections of questionable nature:
- TITLE V -- OBSCENITY AND VIOLENCE
  Section 501 declairs that TITLE V may also be cited as the "Communications Decency Act of 1996".
- Section 502 will modify the following Section of the United States Code:
  - "47 USC 223" -- Importation or transportation of obscene matters
- Section 507 will modify the following Sections of the United States Code:
  - "18 USC 1462" -- Importation or transportation of obscene matters
  - "18 USC 1465" -- Transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution
Sections which seem bad at first, but are probably ok:
- Section 509 -- Online Family Empowerment

As far as I can tell, most of the questionable parts of the act specifically depend on the terms of "obscene" and "obscene material" of which legal definitions I can not find yet.

EOP

while (<>) {
	s/\r\n$/\n/;
	s/^ {10}//;

	s,&,&,g;
	s,<,<,g;
	s,>,>,g;
	s,\[Italic->\],,g;
	s,\[<-Italic\],,g;


	# Section start:
	s,^SEC(TION|\.) (\d+)(\..*),

$&,;

	# Section index entry:
	s,^Sec\. (\d+)(\..*),$&,;

	# Title starts and index entries:
	if (s,^(\s+)TITLE (\S+)(--.*)$,

\1TITLE \2\3,) {
		$title = $2;
		if (! $title{$title}++) {
			# Title index entry
			s,,$&,;
			s,,$&,;
		} else {
			# Title start
			s,,$&,;
			s,,$&,;
		}
	}

	# Subtitle starts and index entries:
	if (s,^(\s+)SUBTITLE (\S+)(--.*)$,\1SUBTITLE \2\3,) {
		$subtitle = $2;
		if (! $title{"$title/$subtitle"}++) {
			# Title index entry
			s,,$&,;
			s,,$&,;
		} else {
			# Title start
			s,,$&,;
			s,,$&,;
		}
	}

	$text .= $_;
}

$_ = $text;
$* = 1;

# U.S.C. cites:
s,(\d+)\s+U\.S\.C\.\s+(\d+),$&,g;

s,title\s+(\d+)\,\s+United\s+States\s+Code,$&,ig;
s,(section\s+(\d+))(\S*\s+of\s+title\s+(\d+)\,\s+United\s+States\s+Code),\1\3,ig;
s,(sections\s+(\d+))(\S*\s+and\s+)(\d+)(\S*\s+of\s+title\s+(\d+)\,\s+United\s+States\s+Code),\1\3\4\5,ig;

# C.F.R. cites:
s,(\d+)\s+C\.F\.R\.\s+(\d+)\.(\d+),$&,g;

#OLD: s,Code\s+of\s+Federal\s+Regulations,$&,ig;
#OLD: s,C\.F\.R\.,$&,g;

print;

print <<'EOP';

kjpires@iat.com