Photos from outside the Supreme Court after oral arguments: http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/copa-supreme-court-nov01.html Background: "Supreme Court sides with 1A over privacy, agrees to hear COPA" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02048.html "Feds appeal loss in COPA online erotica lawsuit" http://www.politechbot.com/p-00326.html "COPA went too far, Judge Reed ruled" http://www.politechbot.com/p-00217.html -Declan --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48699,00.html High Court Focus on Kids, Web By Declan McCullagh (declanat_private) 2:00 a.m. Nov. 29, 2001 PST WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court wondered on Wednesday whether a federal law designed to shield children from sexually explicit websites would imperil legitimate online publishers. The justices focused on an extraordinarily narrow point: How the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which restricts erotic material that offends "contemporary community standards," would apply to the virtual communities of the Internet. "Doesn't any jury necessarily apply the standards of its own community?" asked Justice Antonin Scalia. "What does someone who was raised his whole life in North Carolina know about Las Vegas?" Other justices wondered if Congress truly intended to craft a national standard for smut -- or whether COPA might allow a Bible Belt prosecutor to shut down lurid websites located in far more permissive areas of the United States. "I have a California jury," said Justice Anthony Kennedy. "Is it proper or is it necessary for that jury to consider what the standards are in other parts of the country before it renders its verdict?" "Yes, that would be possible," replied Ted Olson, the solicitor general for the Justice Department. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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