It appears the federal governments effort to "restrict pornography on the web" is over. The Supreme Court struck "down the law on free-speech grounds". The source also notes that the law had a ten year life span and was to end unless renewed; the "Supreme Court let the...law die quietly". (There seem to be two reasons the law died; I don't know which is correct). The SC said that parents should be responsible for "installing software filters on their computers". Lawyers for the Bush admin said that most parents have not done so. The court also ruled agaisnt a 1996 law that prohibited "indecency" of the Internet. Pres Clinton had signed the 1998 law. The COPA made "is a crime to put sexually explicit material on a Web site for commercial gain unless the sponsor used some means to keep out minors".
(Source: "High court lets anti-porn measure expire" by David G. Savage of the Los Angles Times. The Virginian Pilot on January 22, 2009).
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