From: rodger@interramp.com (Will Rodger)
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 09:41:16 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ALERT - DOJ TO APPEAL CDA says Interactive Week
Message-ID: <v01510100adf8a9427970@[38.11.99.32]>
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 From a draft to be posted shortly at http://www.zdnet.com/intweek


By Will Rodger
Wahington Bureau Chief
Inte@active Week

The Department of Justice will appeal to the Supreme Court a federal court
decision that stayed enforcement of a controversial Internet indecency law,
sources close to the court challenge told Inter@ctive Week Thursday.
Department of Justice lawyers gave Sen. J. James Exon, D-Nebr. news of the
appeal in a three-line letter delivered to the law's chief sponsor
Wednesday. A copy of the letter was obtained by Inter@ctive Week.
Exon welcomed the news. "We needed the Justice Department to make a final
decision on the appeal, which I am pleased that they have done with the
full support of the White House," Exon said. "This will now go to the
Supreme court and I believe we will get a more thoughtful decision out of
the top court than what the court in Philadelphia ruled."
Attorneys on the other side seemed equally pleased.
"This is wonderful news because it means the Supreme Court will have a
chance to speak on these issues," said Mike Godwin, staff counsel of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We feel certain the Supreme Court will
uphold the lower court's finding that the statute is unconstitutional."
The Communications Decency Act, passed as part of telecommunications reform
legislation last February, would have banned indecent images and speech
from any areas open to minors on the Internet. Under the law, operators of
Internet sites would have been required to segregate indecent content into
adults-only areas that required a credit card or other form of positive
identification for access.
Drafters based their restrictions in large part on regulations governing
broadcast media which still prohibit indecency over the airwaves, as well
as some local ordinances which require segregation of indecent materials
from others.
But a coalition of civil liberties groups, for-profit and non-profit
organizations challenged the Act in a consolidated suit before a federal
court in Philadelphia. The law, plaintiffs claimed, was unconstitutional
since it set up restrictions on indecent but constitutionally protected
speech.
The CDA, moreover, would place a "chilling effect" on free speech as
Internet users unnecessarily limited their speech in order to comply with
an impermissibly vague law, plaintiffs claimed. In place of the CDA,
plaintiffs suggested evolving technologies in the hands of responsible
parents would better protect children while preserving adults' First
Amendment rights.
The Philadelphia Court agreed with the plaintiffs on all counts, striking
down the law June 12. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel found
that the democratic nature of  the Internet entitled it to at least as much
protection as print, traditionally the least regulated of all media. The
court also found that the statue was impermissibly vague and would thus
unnecessarily restrict speech. The court also ruled the government had
failed to show the law was enforceable with current technology.

Cheers.

Will