Censorship and Freedom of Expression

"Free Speech Debated in Suit Over Anti-Abortion Web Site".
New York Times article from January 13.  Very interesting; includes a link to the controversial site, which contains names and addresses of doctors who provide abortions, with lines through those who have been killed, and the names of those who have been wounded printed in gray.  (You may not be able to accesss the article without registering with the New York Times, but they don't charge for this.  The general site for the paper is http://www.nyt.com.)
"Library Filtering Case Dismissed".
January 14 NYT article. The plaintiff argued that the California, CA public library's policy of open access to internet material was unconstitutional; the case was dismissed by the judge.  The same plaintiff's earlier suit arguing that the open access policy violated California state law was dismissed in October (by the same judge!).  See above note about accessing NYT articles.
"Online Smut Law Heads into Court".
January 18 NYT article. The Child Online Protection Act was designed as a narrower replacement for the Communications Decency Act, which was found unconstitutional in 1997. The Child Online Protection Act was signed into law in October 1998, but a restraining order has prevented the law from going into effect while its constitutionality is considered. Update: According to an April 2 New York Times story, the Government will appeal the restraining order which has kept the COPA from going into effect. According to the story, "The case is now likely to be heard by a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. Many legal experts believe the case is unlikely to end there, however, and say ultimately the United States Supreme Court will be asked to consider it."
The Cyberporn Debate.
Excellent collection of links to materials on a controversial study of pornography on the internet.

Curtis Brown | GNED 1300-1 | cbrown@trinity.edu