Court Rules Against Pennsylvania Child-Pornography Law

Free registration is required to read the article. “A federal court struck down a Pennsylvania law yesterday, ruling that the state could no longer force Internet service providers to block customers’ access to Web sites thought to be distributing child pornography.

The decision is considered a broad victory for both free speech and Internet-rights advocates who have argued that although the Internet Child Pornography Act of Pennsylvania was well-intentioned, its methods and unintended effects were unconstitutional….

The law - the only one of its kind in the United States and one that other states have watched closely as it was challenged in court - required Internet service providers doing business in Pennsylvania, upon notification by the attorney general’s office, to disable access to specified child pornography items “residing on, or accessible through, its service.” That proviso, opponents of the law argued, made Internet service providers liable for offending material that might reside on a private computer on the other side of the globe….

“The blocking affected the global network,” said John Morris, a staff lawyer with the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology. “So a customer in England might not be able to access a site in Spain because of a law in Pennsylvania.” “