U.S. Judge Blocks 1998 Online Porn Law

Today, a federal judge stuck down a 1998 U.S. law that makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access harmful material.

U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. ruled that parents can protect their children through software filters and other means which do not limit the rights of others' free speech. The law was meant to criminalize Web sites which allow children access to material that is deemed "harmful to minors". These sites most likely would have required a credit card number of proof of age to be accessed. Penalties for not following suit included a $50,000 fine and up to 6 months in prison. This law is just another in a long line of laws which the U.S. Government has unsuccessfully tried to pass regarding online pornography and other 'harmful' materials. One successful law has been the one Congress passed in 2000, which required schools and libraries to use software filters (if they receive federal funding of a certain nature). That law was upheld by the high court in 2003.