FC: Supreme Court hears arguments in COPA Internet erotica case

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Photos from outside the Supreme Court after oral arguments:
http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/copa-supreme-court-nov01.html

Background:

"Supreme Court sides with 1A over privacy, agrees to hear COPA"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-02048.html

"Feds appeal loss in COPA online erotica lawsuit"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-00326.html

"COPA went too far, Judge Reed ruled"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-00217.html

-Declan

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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48699,00.html

   High Court Focus on Kids, Web
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)

   2:00 a.m. Nov. 29, 2001 PST

   WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court wondered on Wednesday whether a
   federal law designed to shield children from sexually explicit
   websites would imperil legitimate online publishers.

   The justices focused on an extraordinarily narrow point: How the Child
   Online Protection Act (COPA), which restricts erotic material that
   offends "contemporary community standards," would apply to the virtual
   communities of the Internet.

   "Doesn't any jury necessarily apply the standards of its own
   community?" asked Justice Antonin Scalia. "What does someone who was
   raised his whole life in North Carolina know about Las Vegas?"

   Other justices wondered if Congress truly intended to craft a national
   standard for smut -- or whether COPA might allow a Bible Belt
   prosecutor to shut down lurid websites located in far more permissive
   areas of the United States.

   "I have a California jury," said Justice Anthony Kennedy. "Is it
   proper or is it necessary for that jury to consider what the standards
   are in other parts of the country before it renders its verdict?"

   "Yes, that would be possible," replied Ted Olson, the solicitor
   general for the Justice Department.

   [...]




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