Surprise, surprise…. I just read a story (also reported on slashdot) that a federal judge struck down COPA (child online protection act), citing that parents can protect their children from online content through the use of available software filters and content blockers. Honestly, this news gives me a small sliver of hope for our country.
So, what was COPA all about, and why am I glad it was struck down? COPA is a law that “makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access ‘harmful’ material.” While probably noble in it’s intent, it was also incredibly restrictive on what comercial website operators could do, and controls they had to put in place. This, in turn, restricted the ability for legitimate adults to view this same content. At the same time, it also was abusing legislation in order to keep parents from having to do their jobs by monitoring what their children are doing. In essence, it was the US Government being the babysitters of Americas youth.
From the article:
In the ruling, the judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech.
“Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection,” wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over a four-week trial last fall.
The law was bad for a few reasons. The first I stated above, it’s the government doing the job of the parents. The second, which I also mentioned in passing above, is that it strips away rights of adults by forcing them to jump through hoops to view content that they have every legal right to view. While some may not find pornography acceptable, others do and every adult has the right to view it should they so choose. We can’t hinder their right to view it because we find it inappropriate. This law, however, affected other sites beyond just pornography. Sites dedicated to sex education, as well as some news outlets (salon.com anyone) were affected.
The bottom line is that finally a federal judge has expressed some common sense: this law is stupid, we’re the government, not babysitters. Let the parents do their job because ultimately, the protection of their children from “bad” content is their responsibility and nobody elses.
[tags] COPA, Judge Lowell Reed Jr. , freedom prevails [/tags]
