Child Online Protection Act Struck Down Again
-- Library Journal, 3/26/2007
In a blow to the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a federal judge last week struck down the 1998 law, saying that it violates constitutional free speech. COPA aimed to keep Internet pornography from children by requiring commercial web sites to bar their access to "harmful to minors" material, such as by requiring a credit card. Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. wrote that parents can better protect their children through software filters. He also stressed that COPA fails to address threats—such as online predators on social networking sites—that have emerged since the law was written. COPA only targets web site operators, not their users. COPA has been through several legal rulings and has never been enforced.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has backed a broad coalition of writers, artists, and health educators with a diverse web presence, hailed the ruling as a victory. Though the American Library Association (ALA) was not a party to the suit, as it doesn't affect libraries, the organization also was pleased. "ALA believes that libraries and the public need to be able to use new technologies, and filtering doesn't protect children," says Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA's Washington office. "The only thing that is really going to protect children is education."
