The first legal measure that attempted to curtail the distribution of pornographic material on the Internet was the Communications Decency Act (CDA), signed into effect by Bill Clinton in 1996. This law sought to make criminal the transmission of information that was �indecent,� or �patently offensive.� This measure was quickly fought by many interest groups, and resulted in two court rulings. The first was ACLU vs. Reno, in which a three-judge District Court level panel ruled that although the law was aimed at protecting minors, if properly enforced it would require stifling the free speech rights of adults. This decision was then appealed by the government, and in the second decision by the Supreme Court it was ruled that the CDA was too rigid, now allowing for parents to give consent for their children to view restricted material, now allowing for the work to be considered with its relative social value, as well as by being overall vague in its language (Kolbert 11).
