The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on whether a law
that restricts access by children to internet porn is in breach of
the constitutional right of free speech. The case concerns a ruling
by lower courts that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), passed
in 1998, is illegal.
The 1998 Act sets out criminal penalties and civil fines for
knowingly placing objectionable material where a child could find
it on the internet. It was intended to only apply to commercial web
sites but it has never been enforced.
Free speech pressure groups, such as the American Civil
Liberties Union, successfully argued to a lower court that the
terms of COPA could make illegal the web sites of museums and
bookstores. Further, the court said COPA would, if enforced, force
all web sites to comply with the moral standards of the strictest
communities. The US Department of Justice has appealed that ruling
to the Supreme Court.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court is also expected to rule
on the constitutionality of the US Child Pornography Prevention Act
of 1996 (CPPA), which expanded federal child porn statutes to
include a ban on virtual or computerised child porn
The US also has the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of
1998 (COPPA – not to be confused with COPA) which came into force
on 21st April, 2000 and was applied for the first time in April
2001.
