IP: TOBACCO DEAL COULD SET PRECEDENT FOR WOULD-BE NET CENSORS

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

A little-noticed clause in the recently proposed $368-billion deal struck
between the nation's largest tobacco sellers and states' attorneys general
states, "The new regime would ... prohibit tobacco product advertising on
the Internet unless designed to be inaccessible in or from the United
States." Critics note that if the settlement becomes law, that clause could
set a disturbing precedent for restricting all forms of online speech, and
could encourage other countries to emulate these restrictions or make them
even tougher.  Any company with a global commercial presence, says a law
professor at University of California at Los Angeles, would be forced to
limit its online presence to whatever is allowed by the most restrictive
country it does business in.  (Investor's Business Daily 22 Aug 97)