COPPA Upheld - GoFuckYourself.com

wiseoldone · 05-13-2002, 11:07 AM

The US Supreme Court voted 8-1 to overturn a lower court's decision to strike down COPA.

The distressing thing about this (well, one of the many distressing things) is that the court ruled that community standards are an acceptable test for determining whether material is harmful to minors. Of course, this is the current standard for obscenity, however I felt (and I know that most of you must also feel) that it is impossible to distingish the location of the surfer, so any "community standard" for the internet is absurd. It means that we would need to display materials that are not deemed "harmful to minors" or "obscene" anywhere in the world.

Since the word "fuck" is undoubtedly considered harmful to minors somewhere in the US, even the operators of this board (and anyone who posts) are now in jeopardy of a six month jail term and a $50,000 fine. OUTRAGEOUS.

Small comfort is that the court said the ruling was "limited in scope" and enforcement is still barred until the lower court decides whether the COPA law is unconstitutional for a reason other than the "Community Standards" issue which was the basis for it's first (and imho correct) decision that COPPA was not constitutional.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/751504.asp

05-13-2002, 11:07 AM	#1
wiseoldone Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 37	COPA Upheld The US Supreme Court voted 8-1 to overturn a lower court's decision to strike down COPA. The distressing thing about this (well, one of the many distressing things) is that the court ruled that community standards are an acceptable test for determining whether material is harmful to minors. Of course, this is the current standard for obscenity, however I felt (and I know that most of you must also feel) that it is impossible to distingish the location of the surfer, so any "community standard" for the internet is absurd. It means that we would need to display materials that are not deemed "harmful to minors" or "obscene" anywhere in the world. Since the word "fuck" is undoubtedly considered harmful to minors somewhere in the US, even the operators of this board (and anyone who posts) are now in jeopardy of a six month jail term and a $50,000 fine. OUTRAGEOUS. Small comfort is that the court said the ruling was "limited in scope" and enforcement is still barred until the lower court decides whether the COPA law is unconstitutional for a reason other than the "Community Standards" issue which was the basis for it's first (and imho correct) decision that COPPA was not constitutional. http://www.msnbc.com/news/751504.asp Last edited by wiseoldone; 05-13-2002 at 11:10 AM..