US web censor law looms
p2pnet.net News:- If a Philadelphia judge lifts an injunction barring prosecutors from enforcing the Child Online Protection Act, mainstream web publishers will have plenty to worry about, says CNET News.
And that’s because COPA is a, “sweeping Web censorship law that nearly everyone promptly forgot about” after it was introduced in 1998.
The American Civil Liberties Union immediately filed a lawsuit to block the US Justice Department, and a federal judge granted an injunction barring prosecutors from enforcing the law, says the story, going on that the injunction has been in place ever since.
But now that could change, says CNET. “U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. in Philadelphia will hear closing arguments in the Child Online Protection Act case, and a ruling is expected by early 2007,” says the story, going on:
“It’s unlikely that Reed will lift the injunction, but it is possible. The case has already gone up to the U.S. Supreme Court once, at which point the justices asked Reed to evaluate whether the effectiveness of blocking software had changed in the last few years – a crucial question on which much of the case hinges. (That’s because the ACLU argues filterware is a less restrictive means than a Net-censorship law.)
Under COPA, it would be a federal crime to knowingly post Web pages with sexually explicit material “harmful to minors” and violators could be fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned for up to six months, says CNET.
“That affects far more than just porn producers – even news organizations publishing articles and videos that could be deemed ‘harmful to minors’ might be in trouble,” and, “Just last week, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a state version of COPA that restricted e-mail that could be deemed ‘harmful to minors’,” adds the story.
Also See:
CNET News – Web censorship law may come out of hibernation, November 19, 2006
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