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St. Thomas Law Review

First Page

425

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Congress is presently considering the Children's Internet Protection Act ("CIPA"). CIPA requires schools and libraries that have computers with Internet access to certify to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they (1) have selected a technology for such computers which filters or blocks access to child pornography and obscene material on the Internet; and (2) are enforcing a policy to ensure the operation of such technology during any use of such computers by minors Schools and libraries failing to submit a good-faith certification to the FCC within thirty days of the bill's enactment are ineligible to receive or retain the "E-Rate" discount from the Universal Service Fund Program, a federal subsidy that provides critical funding for Internet access and internal connections. CIPA appears to facially withstand a constitutional challenge because minors do not have a constitutional right to view child pornography or obscene material. The use of existing filtering technology in libraries and schools, however, would render CIPA unconstitutionally over-broad under the First Amendment. Filtering technology is currently incapable of blocking access to "obscenity" and "child pornography" on the Internet without also denying access to a substantial amount of constitutionally protected material. This article will analyze the constitutionality of CIPA by examining the scope of a minor's constitutional right to information and ideas on the Internet, the First Amendment over-breadth doctrine, the efficiency of filtering technology, and the appropriate level of judicial scrutiny applicable to government restrictions on the receipt of information and ideas in public schools and public libraries.

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