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NOTICE:  The following is copyrighted material, reproduced here by the
         kind permission of the of the Lincoln Journal-Star newspaper.
            (c) 1995 Journal-Star Printing Co., Lincoln, Nebraska.
                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 1995                                     Pages 1A/12A


                          BY DAVID E. LYNCH
                         Lincoln Journal-Star

               Decency bill thrusts Exon into limelight
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                   [accompanied by picture of Exon]


     WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jim Exon, D-Neb., has become one of the most
sought-after interviews in the Senate.
     Television crews have been shuffling in and out of his third-floor
Capitol office for the latest sound bites.  Exon made Page 1 in the
Washington Post and the New York Times on March 25.
     ABC, CNN, CNBC, the Christian Broadcasting Network, and National
Empowerment Television, the new network spawned by House Speaker Newt
Gingrich, have stopped in for interviews.
     Talk show hosts from across the country have called to include Exon
in their shows.  Newsweek, Time and other periodicals have done recent
pieces on the Nebraska Democrat.
     The New York Times devoted its lead editorial to Exon the other day.
     None of these reporters or reports have shown any interest in what
Nebraskans consider The Big News about Exon -- his retirement announcement.
They are interested in the senator's bill, S-314, the Communications
Decency Act, which is aimed at making the information superhighway safe
for kids.  The New York Times editorial did mention Exon's retirement but
only as a lead-in for its main concern, which was censorship.
     Entitled:  "Mr. Exon's Foolish Farewell," the editorial opened by
saying the senator "has already announced his retirement, but rather than
going harmlessly, he has decided to leave behind one truly bad idea that
will cause mischief for years to come."
     And that was the gentle, sensitive part.
     Elsewhere in perhaps the most influential editorial page in the
country, the Times said:  "The Senate censors are in a headlong rush to
purge uncharted universes of on-line networks of material unsuitable for
young people.  In their hurry, they approved legal language so broad that
it would limit all adult computer users to material suitable for children."
     It went on to say that the courts have "enough trouble deciding what
can be proscribed as 'obscene,'" and Exon's bill "borrows even more trouble
by purporting to outlaw the 'lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent' as
well."
     Exon responded with a letter to the editor of the Times that has not
been printed yet.  In that letter, Exon explained that his amendment "would
simply apply the same laws that protect against obscene, indecent or
harassing telephone calls to computers."  And he welcomed the Times to the
debate by saying:  "If you do not like my recipe for correction, come let
us reason together."
     The Nebraska Democrat went on to point out a March 26 New York Times
piece about "Amateur Action," one of the sexually oriented bulletin boards
that are burgeoninng quickly in cyberspace.  This bulletin board, according
to the Times, advertises itself as the "nastiest place on earth," featuring
"oral sex, bestiality, nude celebrities, and Lolita schoolgirls."
     Exon agrees this corner of the Net is growing, but he does not agree
with the Internet user who was quoted by the Times thus:  "In 98 percent of
the adult boards I visited, the graphic images were nothing beyond what you
might find in an "adult video rental store."
     That comment caused Exon to wonder in his letter to the Times whether
that "weird admission" concerns "your editorial writers?  Is it the New
York Times' position that if it is OK for an adult bookstore, it is OK for
kids to see on their home computers?"  The retiring Nebraska senator closed
his letter by saying:  "My farewell may come sooner than that of the New
York Times, but I do not fly under the false banner of 'All the News That's
Fit to Print.'"
     Interestingly, Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., a close friend and admirer of
Exon, echoed that theme in an interview last week, saying the courts have
long been frustrated in their attempts to define pornography, never mind
"lewd and indecent."
     Kerrey said that while Exon's "intent is good," he is asking the
courts to do something the kids are already doing -- policing themselves.
He also said that because of this self-policing, the problem of protecting
children from adult or perverted material in cyberspace is not as severe as
Exon thinks it is.

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          Dave Furstenau  df@unlinfo.unl.edu
                          LINCOLN, NEBRASKA