California's law against sending porn on the Internet to seduce minors isn't a free speech violation and doesn't force California law on national communication, according to a state appeals court.
The ruling said the law is different from a federal Net porn law the Supreme Court struck down in 1997 - the California law addressed only those whose purpose is illegal sexual conduct.
This ruling mean San Diego prosecutors can go ahead with the case against David Hatch, who's accused of violating the California law and faces up to three years in prison if convicted. The defense plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
This was the first appellate court ruling on the 1998 law. The 4th District Court of Appeals also rejected defense arguments that online communications aren't confined to state boundaries and can't be regulated by states.
The court ruled 2-1 in favor of the law, with Justice Alex McDonald arguing in dissent that the law was unconstitutional because it applies to any Net communications, sent and received anywhere. He said the Net's nature calls for national, uniform regulations.
Hatch was arrested as the result of a sting in which a local television reporter posed as a minor. She posted information online in chat rooms about a pair of fictional 13-year-olds and Hatch allegedly contacted her with various sexual messages, according to the Associated Press. The reporter met Hatch at a hotel in early 1998, rejected his advances, and handed her records to the police, the AP says. A search of Hatch's computer found child porn on floppy discs, according to the court.
