1994

Drunk Driving on the Internet

An article by John Dvorak in the April 1994 issue of PC Computing magazine described a bill going through Congress that would make it illegal to use the internet while drunk, or even to discuss sexual matters over a public network. The bill was supposedly numbered 040194, and the contact person was listed as Lirpa Sloof. Passage of the bill was felt to be certain because

Who wants to come out and support drunkenness and computer sex?

Dvorak explained that the bill had come about because the Internet was often referred to as an Information Highway. He noted that,

Congress apparently thinks being drunk on a highway is bad no matter what kind of highway it is.

The article generated so many outraged phone calls to Congress that Senator Edward Kennedy's office had to release an official denial of the rumor that he was a sponsor of the bill.