NCJ Number
196887
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 88 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 56-61
Date Published
September 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article addresses the question of whether cyberspace is a special place meriting special privacy protection from anti-porn laws.
Abstract
Recently three congressional laws protecting children from obscenity online have either been struck down or placed in limbo by the courts. This article discusses the fact that porn laws traditionally have been balancing the rights of adults to view protected materials with the government's interest in protecting children from obscenity. A lobbyist for Internet anti-porn law and co-author of congressional bills is described as believing that the anti-obscenity bills proposed by Congress do not in any way inhibit legitimate, protected speech on the Internet. He is concerned that forces that have opposed the bills, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Internet publishers like Salon.com, have unfairly attacked the laws, advocating that the Internet is a pristine environment that should be free from regulation. An ACLU attorney states she believes that the real agenda being put forward in these bills is not so much to protect children as to prevent adults from viewing indecent materials. Responding to court rulings, the bills are being rewritten in Congress more and more narrowly in order to protect both children and Internet speech at the same time. However, Miller v. California, a touchstone case which outlines community standards as the fundamental test to be applied in determining obscenity, makes it a challenge to apply the community standard to the Internet with its global reach, and stymied the Supreme Court in its response to Ashcroft v. ACLU. In conclusion, it is noted that the issue is not going to go away as more children logon to the Internet, and Congress is not going to stop passing anti-obscenity bills. It is predicted that the pendulum will inevitably swing the other way and anti-porn legislation will eventually pass constitutional muster.