Swiftly passing through a first-stage Senate committee in late March, the Communications Decency Act-which threatens to impose federal restrictions on on-line speech-has come under fire from Vice President Al Gore, who recommends comprehensive hearings on the proposed legislation. ''Within the bounds of the Constitution, we support measures that will permit local communities and businesses operating in those communities to determine what's best for them and how to protect vulnerable groups, especially children,'' says a Gore spokesperson. *In a papal first, Pope John Paul II's latest encyclical, the nearly 200-page Evangelium Vitae, will be released on CD-ROM. *Intersection 95, a traveling, Lollapalooza-like interactivity festival, embarks on a seven- city tour early in the fall, bringing the latest in CD-ROMs, videogames, on-line services, 3-D animation, and virtual reality to the masses.