Child porn law at center of free-speech case

CHILD PORN LAW AT CENTER OF FREE-SPEECH CASE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Joan Biskupic]
The Supreme Court today will take up a First Amendment test of Congress' ability to tackle child pornography in the digital age. Justice Department lawyers defending a 2003 law that criminalizes the advertising of purported child porn say such Internet ads fuel the market for smut and hurt children even when the advertised pictures are fake. Challengers to the law, including the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, counter that it sweeps too broadly. They say it threatens the marketing of Lolita and other fictional depictions of adolescent sex.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20071030/a_court30.art.htm

* Brief Filed Challenging COPA on Free Speech Grounds
Today the Center for Democracy & Technology filed a "friend of the court" brief in federal appeals court challenging the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) as a violation of the First Amendment. The amicus brief, submitted to the Third Circuit on behalf of CDT and 17 other groups, argued that COPA places unconstitutional burdens on producers and distributors of Web content. Other strategies are more effective than COPA at protecting children from inappropriate online content, and also impose fewer restrictions on lawful adult speech — in particular, technological parental controls such as Internet filtering software and non-technological tools such as youth education. Amici included organizations that represent corporate leaders in the Internet industry; publishers, distributors and retailers of books and other content; libraries and librarians; newspapers, editors and journalists; and public interest organizations that uphold civil liberties and advocate for a free and open Internet.
http://www.cdt.org/speech/20071029COPAamicus.pdf