March 31, 2007 | Sex & Society

Internet censorship law struck down again

Its title, the "Child Online Protection Act," (COPA) sounds like it's all about good intentions; after all, who doesn't want to protect children? But in practice the law, passed back in 1998, would mean that any website containing materials "deemed harmful to children" would be required to verify, through a credit card or other means, that its visitors were adults before letting them in. 

COPA has never been in force because of a preliminary injunction granted against it when a   coalition of sexual health sites, Salon.com and other websites backed by the American Civil Liberties Union successfully challenged it.  They argued that the law would have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and a federal court agreed, granting the injunction.

The Department of Justice has steadfastly appealed the injunction over the years and the law has been bounced back and forth a few times between federal District Courts and the Supreme Court. The latest chapter occured last week when a U.S. federal court judge again ruled against the 1998 law, citing it violates free speech rights. Judge Lowell Reed Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia said parents can protect their children by employing software filters and other means that are less restrictive on the rights of others.

Is this the end of COPA? Given the Bush administration's anti-porn agenda and wilfull blindness, we doubt it very much.

• US judge blocks 1998 Internet porn law [Yahoo! News]
• Adult Industry, right wing, respond to COPA decision [AVN Online]