MemeStreams | MemeStreams Discussion

Create an Account

This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: Wired News: Child Porn Law Debated in Court. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.

Wired News: Child Porn Law Debated in Court
by Rattle at 12:33 am EST, Jan 10, 2004

] State attorneys opposing a challenge to the Pennsylvania
] law that requires ISPs to block access to websites
] containing child pornography argued to a Philadelphia
] federal court this week that "a URL is neither a person,
] nor a real forum, nor a limited commodity."
]
] "It is a little string of letters and numbers that acts
] as a superficial label," they argued in a brief.
] "Disablement of an ISP's customers' access to a
] particular URL for even an indefinite time does not
] implicate First Amendment rights."

Child porn clearly poses a dangerous threat to our society. Not only is it a product of despicable crime against children, but our outrage towards it causes some really bone head laws to get made.

RE: Wired News: Child Porn Law Debated in Court
by k at 10:53 am EST, Jan 10, 2004

Rattle quoted:
] ] "It is a little string of letters and numbers that acts
] ] as a superficial label," they argued in a brief.
] ] "Disablement of an ISP's customers' access to a
] ] particular URL for even an indefinite time does not
] ] implicate First Amendment rights."

yeah, that's foolish a lot.

in what way is a URL a "superficial label"?

Given that the content effectively ceases to exist without the label, it's not superficial.

Anyway, all of that is completely secondary to the bigger problem which is that censorship is pretty damn impossible to make work, expecially in any sort of automated way. And the even bigger problem than that which is the shifting of responsibility from, say, you, me or parents, onto businesses, by the government.

It's unfortunate how often this happens. Child pornography was already illegal, i don't see how this is going to make things better. Censorship at any level higher than the family unit is bound to fail miserably, and help no one.