That may soon change. Today, U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. in Philadelphia will hear closing arguments in the Child
Online Protection Act case, and a ruling is expected by early 2007. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court asked Reed to evaluate whether the effectiveness of blocking software had changed in the last few
years--a crucial question because the ACLU argues filterware is a less restrictive means than a Net-censorship law.
If Reed sides with the Bush administration, mainstream Web publishers will have plenty to worry about. COPA makes it a federal crime to knowingly post Web pages that have sexually explicit material that's "harmful to minors." Violators could be fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned for up to six months. That affect porn producers, but also news organizations that publish articles and videos that could be deemed "harmful to minors."