CIPA Appeal Reaching Supreme Court

Arguments on the Children's Internet Protection Act – including those supporting a Philadelphia appeals court which ruled the act violates the First Amendment – will begin in the U.S. Supreme Court March 5.

The controversial law is aimed at regulating "inappropriate" Net content and mandating public library Net filtering to keep kids away from Net porn. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia threw the law out last May, saying filtering technology obstructs too many Websites having nothing to do with porn and "whose suppression serves no legitimate government interest.

"Any public library that adheres to CIPA's conditions," the appeals court continued, "will necessarily restrict patrons access to a substantial amount of protected speech in violation of the First Amendment."

A joint brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Library Association argues that CIPA "inevitably censor(s) a substantial amount of protected speech for adults and minors." The two groups argue further that no blocking programs offer content categories "that are limited – or even tied in any way – to CIPA's legal definitions of obscenity, child pornography, or material that is 'harmful to minors'."

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