A federal judge has ruled that The Child Online Protection Act is unconstitional.
Open Records Project activism against sex offenders dates nearly to the dawn of the Internet. However, trying to write a law limiting Internet publishing in any way is extremely difficult to do:
- In the United States, any such law must not violate the First Amendment to the Constitution (freedom of speech). Censorship tends to be the opposite of open records.
- The Internet crosses national boundaries as easily as the wind. Writing laws in one country to be enforced in innumerable other countries including countries without laws is a practical loser.
- The government should never be the first (or even the second) line of defense against child predators. Child protection is each parent’s primary responsibility.
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