IP: CDA from the Chronical

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

Academe Today's DAILY REPORT
of The Chronicle of Higher Education


[snip]


A glance at the March 31 issue of "The New Republic": The
Supreme Court and Internet "indecency"


Some free-speech advocates expect the U.S. Supreme Court to
throw out the federal law restricting "indecent" material on the
Internet. They say the decision is a no-brainer because the law
blatantly violates the free-speech rights of adults. But Jeffrey
Rosen of "The New Republic" says such "triumphalism is
premature." In fact, the Court, which hears arguments in the
case today, might find a way to stretch the First Amendment to
make room for the "indecency" standard on the Internet, Mr.
Rosen believes. How? If the justices compare the Internet
restrictions to zoning laws that regulate adult bookstores, Mr.
Rosen says, the Court could "reasonably conclude that the
burdens of an adult I.D. [in cyberspace] are comparatively
small." The American Civil Liberties Union and others fighting
the law argue that such "adult I.D." checks, in which users
present a credit-card number to prove that they are adults, are
overly burdensome to most Internet content providers. The
justices have also shown a willingness to accept an "indecency"
standard, even if they consider that standard to be somewhat
vague, according to Mr. Rosen. They did so, he says, in a 1996
decision allowing cable-television operators to ban "indecent"
programming. "It wouldn't be inconsistent with recent trends in
law and technology for the Court to uphold the Communications
Decency Act," he concludes. "It would, however, be a mistake."