The recent ruling by a Philadelphia court in response to a challenge by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) represents another setback for Congressional prudes and the filtering software lobby.. . .
The recent ruling by a Philadelphia court in response to a challenge by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) represents another setback for Congressional prudes and the filtering software lobby.

Briefly, the CIPA would deny public funds to libraries which refuse to install expensive content-filtering software on their Net-connected computers, and the court ruled it unconstitutional.

The ruling will undoubtedly influence further decisions regarding public access to Internet content which the government in its infinite wisdom reckons you're better off not encountering.

The Philadelphia decision hinges on the means of enforcement, not the theoretical framework on which the CIPA is based. Surely it wouldn't be unconstitutional to block obscenity and kiddie porn which have no protection, so long as protected content isn't blocked. The question, then, is whether the means exist to satisfy Congress' insatiable appetite for regulating the pleasures of citizens without running afoul of the First Amendment.