Yesterday a three-judge federal court unanimously ruled that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) violated the First Amendment. CIPA was about web filters in public libraries. It would not have punished libraries for refusing to use filters; it would merely have denied them federal funds. But even this milder approach violated the free speech rights of patrons, the court ruled. The freedom of speech includes a freedom to read, and web filters are crude devices that inevitably block constitutionally protected content (see FOSN for 3/25/02). The government's purpose to prevent dissemination of obscenity, especially to minors, is legitimate but must be served through a method that is "narrowly tailored" to achieve that purpose. The librarian plaintiffs were represented by the ACLU and the ALA.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
