Sunday, April 01, 2007

JUDGE THROWS OUT ONLINE SEX LAW



CNET - A federal judge has ruled that the Child Online Protection Act,
which would have criminalized much of the sexual content on the
Internet, violates First and Fifth Amendment rights. The 1998 U.S. law
included both civil and criminal penalties for those who make sexually
explicit materials freely available on the Web.

U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over the trial
involving several online publications and the American Civil Liberties
Union, ruled that COPA is "impermissibly vague and overbroad" to be
constitutional, and that there are other less-restrictive means
available for protecting children from content deemed inappropriate.
In addition, Reed said, the law would "undoubtably chill a substantial
amount of constitutionally protected speech for adults."

http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6169621.html?part=
rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news
 

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