FC: American Library Association votes to challenge filtering law

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Thanks to everyone who forwarded this along. --Declan]




http://www.ala.org/news/v7n1/cipa.html


American Library Association votes to challenge CIPA
   
   ALA News Release
   For Immediate Release
   January 2001

   Contact: Mark Gould 
   312-280-5042
   
   The executive board of the American Library Association (ALA) voted
   yesterday to initiate legal action challenging the recently enacted
   Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), signed into law on December
   21. The decision came after more than a week of intense discussion
   among leaders and members during the association's annual Midwinter
   Meeting. The ALA contends the act is unconstitutional and creates an
   infringement of First Amendment protections.
   
   The federal rider, which was attached to the Labor HHS Education
   Appropriations Bill, mandates libraries and schools install content
   filters on all computers that offer Internet access as a prerequisite
   to receiving federal grant funds. Funding sources include the e-rate
   program, the Library Services and Technology Act and the Elementary
   and Secondary Education Act. All three programs help ensure schools
   and libraries provide access to the resources communities need to
   thrive in the information age. CIPA runs counter to these federal
   efforts to close the digital divide for all Americans.
   
   No filtering software successfully differentiates constitutionally
   protected speech from illegal speech on the Internet. Even the federal
   commission appointed to study child safety on the Internet concluded
   filters are not effective in blocking all content that some may find
   objectionable, but they do block much useful and constitutionally
   protected information.
   
   The association is researching and exploring its options in
   preparation for litigation.
   
   Copyright © 2000, American Library Association.
   Last Modified: Thursday, 18-Jan-2001 12:37:08 CST
   



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