IP: Court Upholds Internet Office Ban

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:32:21 -0500 
To: farber () cis upenn edu (David Farber) 
From: "Richard J. Solomon" <richard () goodread com> 


February 11, 1999 

Court Upholds Internet Office Ban 

Filed at 5:37 a.m. EST 

By The Associated Press 

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A federal appeals court has upheld a Virginia law that prohibits state employees from looking at 
sexually explicit material via the Internet while at work. 
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that the law does not infringe state employees' freedom of 
expression. 
Six professors at public colleges challenged the law, arguing it would impede their ability to conduct legitimate 
research. 
But the 4th Circuit agreed with lawyers for the state who argued that the government has a right to supervise 
on-the-job activities of its employees. 
``The issue in this case was really very simple: The taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the use of state 
computers by state employees, on state time, for downloading pornography on the Internet,'' said state Attorney General 
Mark Earley. 
Kent Willis of the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the ruling. 
``This is an enormously disappointing decision that runs against the grain of free-speech decisions regarding the 
Internet,'' he said, adding that no decision has been made on whether to appeal. 
A bill to repeal the 1996 law is pending before the state Senate. 
Ann Beeson, an ACLU lawyer, said Virginia has the nation's only law restricting state employees' access to materials 
over the Internet. 

ress.