From: Mac Norton <mnorton@cavern.uark.edu>
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 08:38:36 +0800
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: Re: Courts strike down New York and Georgia Net-censorship laws
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970620185932.6841D-100000@cavern.uark.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970620192501.6841E-100000@cavern.uark.edu>
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Apologies to Declan for replying to a private message on the list.
Gotta to learn to read those headers all the way through.:)

The "Dan" mentioned is Dan Burk, an acomplished young law professor
who has done some relevant writing on the subject.
MacN

On Fri, 20 Jun 1997, Mac Norton wrote:

> I consider Dan an expert in the area, myself, and agree with most of
> his thinking on the subject.  Defamation law is 1A-involved, so maybe
> not an apt comparison.  It's subject to a national, not community,
> standard in that regard, unlike obscenity.
> 
> On the other hand, while states actually have constitutionally 
> enshrined authority over liquor, there is Healey v. The Beer
> Institute, cite I can't remember.
> MacN 
> 
> On Fri, 20 Jun 1997, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> 
> > Pardon me as I muddle through this --
> > 
> > Defamation law looks to local communities to define
> > things like reputation. What about huge Internet
> > communities? What about the distinction between public
> > and private figures?
> > 
> > Wouldn't an even-handed application of the commerce
> > clause stop states from banning child porn or passing
> > libel/defamation laws for the Net?
> > 
> > Though I agree that no court would strike down a child
> > porn law on commerce clause grounds...
> > 
> > Dan Burk has written much about this topic, and I'm
> > planning to read up on it over the weekend. One of his
> > law review articles came up during oral arguments before
> > Judge Preska in NYC.
> > 
> > -Declan
> > 
> > 
> > On Fri, 20 Jun 1997, Mac Norton wrote:
> > 
> > > On Fri, 20 Jun 1997, Steve Schear wrote:
> > > 
> > > > >But the rulings differ in important ways. Manhattan's
> > > > >Judge Preska did not answer whether the New York law
> > > > >violated the First Amendment, saying she was going to
> > > > >wait for the U.S. Supreme Court's to rule on the
> > > > >Communications Decency Act. She said, however, that
> > > > >she didn't *need to answer* that question to strike
> > > > >down the law since it violated the U.S. Constitution's
> > > > >ban on states attempts to regulate commerce outside
> > > > >their borders.
> > > > 
> > > > Might this also mean that states attempting to restrict Internet gaming
> > > > might similarly be restrained?
> > > 
> > > Not necessarily, and that's ilustrative of one of the problems with this
> > > decision on Commerce Clause grounds.  Is child porn, like other articles
> > > of "commerce", generic across state lines, or is it subject to a Miller
> > > "community standard"?  Same for the "harmful to minors" standard?
> > > MacN
> > >   
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> 
>