Childrens Internet Protection Act (CIPA) ruling by the US District Court for the Eastern District

Children's Internet Protection
Act (CIPA) ruling by the US
District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania

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(CIPA) Ruling
by United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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Title: Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Ruling

Author: United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5180] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 31,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK,
CHILDREN'S INTERNET PROTECTION ACT (CIPA) RULING ***

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, : CIVIL ACTION INC., et
al. : : v. : : UNITED STATES, et al. : NO. 01-1303 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MULTNOMAH COUNTY PUBLIC :
CIVIL ACTION LIBRARY, et al. : : v. : : UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, et al. : NO. 01-1322
Before: BECKER, Chief Circuit Judge, FULLAM and BARTLE,
District Judges.
OPINION OF THE COURT
May 31, 2002
Becker, Chief Circuit Judge
CONTENTS
I. Preliminary Statement II. Findings of Fact A. Statutory Framework 1.
Nature and Operation of the E-rate and LSTA Programs 2. CIPA a.
CIPA's Amendments to the E-rate Program b. CIPA's Amendments to
the LSTA Program B. Identity of the Plaintiffs 1. Library and Library
Association Plaintiffs 2. Patron and Patron Association Plaintiffs 3.
Web Publisher Plaintiffs C. The Internet 1. Background 2. The
Indexable Web, the "Deep Web"; Their Size and Rates of Growth and

Change 3. The Amount of Sexually Explicit Material on the Web D.
American Public Libraries 1. The Mission of Public Libraries, and
Their Reference and Collection Development Practices 2. The Internet
in Public Libraries a. Internet Use Policies in Public Libraries b.
Methods for Regulating Internet Use E. Internet Filtering Technology 1.
What Is Filtering Software, Who Makes It, and What Does It Do? 2.
The Methods that Filtering Companies Use to Compile Category Lists
a. The "Harvesting" Phase b. The "Winnowing" or Categorization
Phase c. The Process for "Re-Reviewing" Web Pages After Their Initial
Categorization 3. The Inherent Tradeoff Between Overblocking and
Underblocking 4. Attempts to Quantify Filtering Programs' Rates of
Over- and Underblocking 5. Methods of Obtaining Examples of
Erroneously Blocked Web Sites 6. Examples of Erroneously Blocked
Web Sites 7. Conclusion: The Effectiveness of Filtering Programs III.
Analytic Framework for the Opinion: The Centrality of Dole and the
Role of the Facial Challenge IV. Level of Scrutiny Applicable to
Content-based Restrictions on Internet Access in Public Libraries A.
Overview of Public Forum Doctrine B. Contours of the Relevant
Forum: the Library's Collection as a Whole or the Provision of Internet
Access? C. Content-based Restrictions in Designated Public Fora D.
Reasons for Applying Strict Scrutiny 1. Selective Exclusion From a
"Vast Democratic Forum" 2. Analogy to Traditional Public Fora V.
Application of Strict Scrutiny A. State Interests 1. Preventing the
Dissemination of Obscenity, Child Pornography, and Material Harmful
to Minors 2. Protecting the Unwilling Viewer 3. Preventing Unlawful
or Inappropriate Conduct 4. Summary B. Narrow Tailoring C. Less
Restrictive Alternatives D. Do CIPA's Disabling Provisions Cure the
Defect? VI. Conclusion; Severability FOOTNOTES
1. Preliminary Statement
This case challenges an act of Congress that makes the use of filtering
software by public libraries a condition of the receipt of federal funding.
The Internet, as is well known, is a vast, interactive medium based on a
decentralized network of computers around the world. Its most familiar
feature is the World Wide Web (the "Web"), a network of computers
known as servers that provide content to users. The Internet provides
easy access to anyone who wishes to provide or distribute information
to a worldwide audience; it is