UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Abstract
This essay situates the Communications Decency Act in contemporary jurisprudence and our postmodern culture. The author analyzes why both the proscription of indecency in cyberspace and the prescription of television ratings are unconstitutional. More importantly, the essay argues that cyberspace must be viewed as a post modern spectacle. The production forces of late capitalism have commodified sex and violence, making them the principal fruits of desire in cyberspace. These cultural urges, in conjunction with the convergence of telecommunications technologies, render the CDA and like forms of censorship fundamentally unenforceable. The essay concludes by suggesting the serious implications for First Amendment jurisprudence and the rule of law that the commodification of culture and speech presents.
Recommended Citation
David Kushner,
The Communications Decency Act and the Indecent Indecency Spectacle,
19 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 87
(1996).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol19/iss1/4
Included in
Communications Law Commons, Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons