The law passed by Congress last month to keep minors away from adult Web sites is about to face its first legal hurdle. On Thursday (Nov. 19), lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union will argue in federal district court in Philadelphia for a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement. The U.S. Justice Department is to oppose granting the order. \n It is the initial step in ACLU v. Reno, a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations that challenges the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act, sometimes called CDA II. \n If granted, the temporary restraining order would keep federal law enforcement forces at bay until at least Dec. 8 and 9, when a hearing for a preliminary injunction has been scheduled. \n COPA makes it illegal for commercial Web sites to offer material that is considered harmful to minors. An exemption is granted if the Web site uses credit card numbers or an age verification service before it displays potentially harmful material to the site visitor. \n The big problem, according to the ACLU and other groups that have joined the lawsuit, is that there is no definition or agreement as to what is harmful to minors. For example, under the new law, a Web site operator could face prosecution for posting the report of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal or for putting up the photographs of controversial photographer Mapplethorpe. \n The suit argues that the new law is basically the same as the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), which outlawed from the Web any content that was patently offensive. The main provisions of that law were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The court said government interest in protecting children isn't enough to allow "an unnecessarily broad suppression of speech addressed to adults." \n Earlier this month, the ACLU and other groups, many of whom are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and asked that she hold off on any prosecutions under the new law. The letter said the new law "will immediately damage freedom of expression, the bedrock value at the core of the First Amendment. The act will also impose a structure on the Internet that places free speech and privacy in permanent jeopardy." \n Ann Beeson, lead attorney for the ACLU in this case, said she was confident her side will win, based on the rulings against the CDA last year.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
