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Pennsylvania Internet Child Pornography Act Struck Down
In February 2002, Pennsylvania enacted the Internet Child Pornography Act that requires Internet service providers to remove or disable access to child pornography items residing on or accessible through its service after notification by the Pennsylvania Attorney General. This was the first attempt by a state to impose criminal liability on an ISP that merely provides access to the content through its network and has no direct relationship with the source of the content.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a recent decision ruled that the Act is unconstitutional. The Court held that the Act violates free-speech rights since the efforts of ISPs to disable access to child pornography in response to requests by the Attorney General have led to the blocking of more than one million websites not targeted by the Attorney General due to the technical limitations of the methods used by ISPs to comply with the Act.
The Court noted that the Act has an extraterritorial effect since most ISPs' networks cross state boundaries. Although the Court stated that it is not prepared to rule that states can never regulate the Internet, it concluded that the Act's extraterritorial effect violates the Commerce Clause and is an invalid indirect regulation of interstate commerce.
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://www.cdt.org/speech/pennwebblock/20040910memorandum.pdf