Dial-a-Porn Foes to Fight Attempts to Weaken Ban

Conservative lawmakers vowed Monday to fight attempts to soften a proposed ban on dial-a-porn telephone services that they claim have inflicted psychological damage on hundreds of thousands of children.

“Our children have suffered at the expense of the dial-a-porn kings who are the worst bums I can imagine,” said Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), flanked at a press conference by two parents whose children were sexually abused by other children who had made extensive calls to a dial-a-porn service.

Helms and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), said they would continue to fight for the dial-a-porn ban as part of a $7.5-billion education bill nearing final passage by both chambers.

The House will consider a compromise measure Tuesday that allows dial-a-porn to continue but requires adults to subscribe to a service through their local phone companies before they can dial it.

Dannemeyer sharply criticized the compromise, claiming that it would not prevent children from gaining access to dial-a-porn either by paying with a credit card, which circumvents the phone companies billing system, or by using a neighbor’s phone.

He charged that the compromise would give a stamp of legitimacy to the dial-a-porn operators and protect telephone companies from parents’ lawsuits.

Critics of an outright dial-a-porn ban have claimed that it violates First Amendment guarantees of freedom of expression and would be thrown out as unconstitutional by the courts if enacted.

They succeeded in integrating the compromise into the final version of the education bill despite a 98-0 Senate vote and a non-binding 284-17 House vote in favor of an outright ban on dial-a-porn.

Dannemeyer predicted he would wage a successful floor battle today to keep the House from considering the compromise.