Coalition Expected to File Suit to End Internet Indecency Ban
Seeking the same free-speech protections for the Internet now enjoyed by newspapers, a broad coalition that includes America Online and Microsoft Corp. is expected to file suit in federal court today to strike down a recent government ban on the transmission of indecent material over computer networks.
The suit by the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition will become the second major legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act, which makes illegal the display of obscene or patently offensive material to children on the Internet and other computer networks. Earlier this month, a lawsuit filed by a separate coalition led by the American Civil Liberties Union resulted in the temporary blocking of the act, which is part of the recently enacted federal telecommunications law.
A federal judge in Philadelphia said the definition of indecency in the act was so vague that people wouldn’t know they were breaking the law until they were arrested.
Today’s suit, which is also expected to be filed in Philadelphia, goes beyond the ACLU action by seeking to persuade the court that the Internet and other computer networks are a different medium from television or radio, which are subject to government regulation on indecency, according to a coalition official.
The suit will argue in part that computer networks are more like printed publications--which are not subject to most government indecency standards--because of the huge number of outlets and users’ ability to control what is seen.
The suit has been organized by America Online, the American Library Assn. and the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington. Although the suit is being filed on behalf of the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition, many of its participants have yet to decide to support the suit as plaintiffs, according to a coalition official who did not want to be identified.
A spokeswoman for Microsoft, which is a coalition member, said the software company had no comment on the suit.
