COPA Struck Down, Yet Again

Don't expect to see the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) going into effect anytime soon. The U.S. Supreme Court voted June 29 to uphold a lower court decision to block enforcement of the law, which would have penalized commercial Web sites that failed to obtain proof of age before providing materials considered harmful to minors.

Although COPA was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, it has never taken effect due to injunctions and court challenges.

Writing for the 5–4 majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that the law's threat of criminal penalties was likely to stifle free speech and that installing filtering software was less restrictive.

"This is a win for the Internet and for the Constitution, but it is not a loss for families," said Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. "Parents who choose to filter their children's access are exercising parental responsibility. When the government mandates filters, however, it's censorship."