ACLU Appeals Ruling

The American Civil Liberties Union said it is appealing a March 28 federal court ruling that barred distribution of a hacking program used to defeat a popular Internet filter product. The ACLU said it is acting on behalf of three Web sites that were compelled to remove the program, called “cphack.” The program can be used to undermine the popular Cyber Patrol filtering software, a product used by parents to keep their children from encountering pornography online. The ACLU has argued that the program deserves free-speech protections, and that the U.S. District Court in Boston presiding over the case does not have jurisdiction “over the entire Internet.”