Federal court blocks anti-porn Web act p.8

By: Kelvin Childs Newspapers, other publishers opposed measure

A federal judge in Philadelphia on Feb. 1 extended an injunction blocking the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) from taking effect. "While the public certainly has an interest in protecting its minors, the public interest is not served by the enforcement of an unconstitutional law," U.S. district judge Lowell Reed Jr. wrote. He ordered the Justice Department not to enforce the measure until a lawsuit on its constitutionality is resolved.
Justice Department spokesman John Russell says the agency is studying the ruling and deciding whether to appeal the case. The measure, which forbids dissemination of material deemed "harmful to minors," is aimed at commercial pornographers.
But, Reed wrote, "There is nothing in the text of the COPA, however, that limits its applicability to so-called commercial pornographers only. ? Because COPA applies to communications which include, but are not necessarily wholly comprised of, material that is harmful to minors, it logically follows that it would apply to any Web site that contains only some harmful to minors material."
COPA is also opposed by publishers who fear that content like the Starr Report might be covered by the law.
COPA often is called "CDA II," because it is similar to the Communications Decency Act, which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998 as being an unconstitutional block on the free speech rights of adults. However, COPA uses the "harmful to minors" standard, while the CDA sought to block "indecent" material. In either case, Reed wrote, "The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that the free speech rights of adults may not be reduced to allow them to read only what is acceptable for children."
The COPA requires Web sites offering materials harmful to minors to verify any user's age before allowing access. Penalties include criminal and civil fines up to $150,000 per day per violation and jail terms up to six months.
President Clinton signed COPA into law in October, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit in November, winning two temporary injunctions against the law. Reed's decision came the day the second temporary injunction against the law expired.
Sixteen plaintiffs joined the ACLU suit, including Salon (a Webzine) and the Internet Content Coalition, whose members include the New York Times Electronic Media Co., Reuters New Media, CBS New Media, Time Inc., C/Net, Warner Brothers Online, MSNBC, Playboy Enterprises, Sony Online, and ZDNet.
Filing friend-of-the-court briefs on the ACLU's side were the Newspaper Association of America, the National Newspaper Association, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Magazine Publishers of America.
The case is No. 98-5591, Reno vs. the ACLU II.
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?(copyright: Editor & Publisher February 6, 1999) [Caption]