Government Defends 1998 Anti-Porn Law: Salon.com, ACLU suing

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Eight years after Congress tried to criminalize material deemed ``harmful to children,'' free speech advocates and Web site publishers took their challenge of the law to trial Monday.

Salon.com, Nerve.com and other plaintiffs backed by the American Civil Liberties Union are suing over the 1998 Child Online Protection Act. They believe the law could restrict legitimate material they publish online - exposing them to fines or even jail time.

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The law, signed by then-President Clinton, requires adults to use some sort of access code, or perhaps a credit-card number, to view material that may be considered ``harmful to children.'' It would impose a $50,000 fine and six-month prison term on commercial Web site operators that publish such content, which is to be defined by ``contemporary community standards.''

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The government ``will argue that parents are too stupid to use filters. It's an insulting argument and it's wrong,'' ACLU attorney Chris Hansen said in his opening statement Monday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6166096,00.html