ANCAPS Good News: COPA Child-Protection Act Is Struck Down

The decade-long battle over the Children Online Protection Act (COPA) took another turn this week when an appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that found COPA to be unconstitutional.

"COPA cannot withstand a strict scrutiny, vagueness, or over breadth analysis and thus is unconstitutional," according to a Tuesday ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

COPA provides for up to six months in jail, in addition to civil penalties, for those found guilty of posting information online for commercial purposes that's considered harmful to minors. As defined by the bill, material that's harmful to minors includes obscene communication, the depiction of sexual material that could be considered offensive, or material that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

The law was scheduled to go into effect on October 21, 1998 but it immediately faced challenges in court and its enforcement was delayed.

The Court of Appeals found that the bill is overly broad and that other techniques like filtering or other parental controls would be more efficient than a law like COPA. Tuesday's ruling upholds a March 2007 District Court decision.

"COPA was not narrowly tailored to serve the government's compelling interest in preventing minors from being exposed to harmful material on the Web, was not the least restrictive means available to effect that interest, and was substantially overbroad," the court said Tuesday.

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a Washington-based think tank, applauded the ruling.

"Throughout the history of legal challenges to COPA, we have argued that the most effective way to protect children online, and the means least restrictive of free expression, is to give families the resources to control what their children see and do online," CDT General Counsel John Morris, said in a statement. "This empowers parents, respects the First Amendment and acknowledges the diverse sensibilities of American families."

The issue could now head to the Supreme Court.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2326345,00.asp

ANCAPS Good News: COPA Child-Protection Act Is Struck Down

ANCAPS Good News: COPA Child-Protection Act Is Struck Down

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