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More from ALA on CIPA. Amanda at CTLS Greetings: I don't mean to bombard you with CIPA e-mail, but I thought the message below gave a good summary of the decision. ********************** 5/31/02 The three-judge panel issued a decision today holding that the CIPA statute is facially unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. The three-judge panel permanently enjoined the FCC and LSTA from withholding funds from public libraries who have chosen not to install filters on all terminals. Public libraries thus are not required to install filters on their computers in order to receive funds from either agency. The opinion was unanimous. The opinion was written by Chief Judge Becker of the Third Circuit and joined by U.S. District Judges Fullam and Bartle. The Court held that the CIPA statute is unconstitutional because the mandated use of filtering on all computers will result in blocked access to substantial amounts of constitutionally protected speech. The Court found that filters both overblock (block access to protected speech) and underblock (allow access to illegal or unconstitutional speech). The Court held that less restrictive alternatives exist to allow public libraries to protect children from material that is illegal for them to access. The Court found that public libraries can - and indeed that many do -- use the following less restrictive alternatives: (1) filters offered as a choice for families to use for their own children at the public library; (2) education and Internet training courses; (3) enforcement of Internet Use policies by library staff; and (4) placement of terminals, use of privacy screens or utilization of recessed monitors. For more information, see www.ala.org/cipa --------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Include in body: unsubscribe ctls-l For information on CTLS-L please visit: http://www.ctls.net/document/ctls-l.htm
