3rd Circuit Invalidates Child Online Protection Act
| July 22, 2008 |
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By Robert Corn-Revere and David M. Shapiro
On July 22, 2008, a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit struck down the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) in ACLU v. Mukasey, holding that COPA failed to withstand strict scrutiny under the First Amendment and represented an impermissibly vague and overbroad restriction of speech. COPA threatened to chill Internet speech by providing civil and criminal penalties for anyone who knowingly posts “material that is harmful to minors” on the Internet “for commercial purposes.”
The case was filed the day after COPA became law in 1998 and was originally called ACLU v. Reno. A series of decisions in the case prevented COPA from ever taking effect—and today's decision improves the chances that it never will. It has been the subject of two previous Supreme Court decisions, and may be reviewed a third time. The decision and the Supreme Court’s response will greatly affect producers and posters of online content, particularly those who post "adult-oriented" material, or indeed any material that is sexual in nature. Continue reading...
