The Internet became a very popular and huge way to obtain millions of different types of materials and information for everyday use in the late 1980s and early of the 90s. It has become easy for anyone to access millions of different types of materials, ninety-nine percent of which are decent by our government's standards and one or fewer percent are considered indecent or material harmful to minors. (ABC) These facts maybe However it is deceptive because there are millions of Internet sites, so the Internet may only be 1% indecent, but that means there are thousands and thousands of sites that are indecent. (ABC) The bigger question is: how can we protect our children from these indecent sites? The Government believes that passing a bill banning indecent material on the Internet would help protect children using the Internet. So in 1996, Congress passed the CDA (Communications Decency Act) along with the TCA (Telecommunication Act). (Lewis) The TCA was designed and passed by Congress to ban indecent material from radio and television and the CDA was a last minute addition to this bill. (Serra) The CDA was never heard before the congress and many members questioned its constitutionality. Clition signed the bill, but it was clear that he hoped the courts would declare the bill unconstitutional. (Serra) It became apparent very quickly that this bill was going to cause problems. In June of '96 the same year the bill was passed, a New York Internet-based newspaper filed a lawsuit against the CDA stating, "This bill is a violation of the rights not only of myself, but a violation of the rights of the American people." . Long live the Internet," said Joe Shea, editor in chief of The American Reporter, the electronic newspaper that challenged the law."(Lewis) This case, however, was not the first. In Philadelphia a group of about 50 organizations filed a lawsuit against the CDA and the court also ruled in their favor. (Lewis) More and more cases began to appear in federal courts until December of '96 when it was finally brought before the Supreme Court in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union. (ACLU v. Janet Reno) The problem with the CDA was that it did not clearly define indecent material. Many thought that the breadth of terminology used in...... half of the document ......gle was to "safely protect" the rights of the men and women of America. Works Cited"American Civil Liberties Union v. Janet Reno." May 11, 1996. May 2, 2005Childs, Kelvin. “Problems persist despite CDA ruling.” . July 05, 1997: April 19, 2005 "Communications Decency Act; Gina Smith, Charels Gibson." Good morning America. ABC. March 19, 1997. April 19, 2005Dlouhy, Jennifer A. "Rule Suggests Alternative to Online Pornography: Mandates Use of Internet Filters." July 3, 2004. May 2, 2005Serra, Lina. "Court, 9-0, upholds state laws banning assisted suicide; protects free speech on the Internet." New York Times June 27, 1997. Children and Civil Rights. Talk by The Nation NPR, Washington DC. April 06, 1998. Lewis, Peter H. "Opponents of Internet Indecency Rules Win Another Case." The New York Times July 30, 1996. eLibrary. April 19, 2005 "The Cyberspace Police." Editorial. La Nazione 1 March 1999: n. page."Supreme Court Upholds Child Online Protection Act Preliminary Injunction." . 01 September 2004: eLibrary. May 2, 2005"Supreme Court Rules on the Online Child Protection Act." . July 1, 2002: eLibrary. May 2 2005