ALA v. Pataki: A Case of Indecency
If you popped open the Moët & Chandon when a Philadelphia federal court struck down the Communications Decency Act last June ... if you thought the Internet was safe from the dark forces of censorship ... think again. In the past two years, at least 17 states have passed or are considering legislation to restrict sexually oriented content on the Net. Some of these bills - aimed at pedophiles vending kiddie porn via computers - are laudable updates to existing child pornography laws. But New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Maryland have passed laws that impose censorship as far-reaching as what the Philadelphia court found unconstitutional.
Enacted last fall, Section 235.21(3) of the New York State Penal Code makes it a crime to disseminate information "harmful to minors" via computer. Violation of the statute is a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison. Civil libertarians were quick to respond. In early March, the American Library Association, along with the Westchester Library System, the Association of American Publishers and others, filed ALA v. Pataki in the US District Court. "Telecommunication is going to be a primary means of communication in the 21st century," argues Judith Krug, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. "Librarians cannot live under laws that hold them liable for jail sentences if they use a computer to make 'indecent' information available to people younger than 18."
The New York law makes no attempt to distinguish between material inappropriate for a 5- or 6-year-old but suitable for a teenager. More troubling, the statute's definition of "harmful" material is broad enough to include information on AIDS, family planning, and homosexuality.
The ALA fears the legislation will prompt librarians to pull the plug on Internet connections rather than face jail time. "It's a serious situation," Krug says, "because a library's responsibility is to make available ideas and information across the spectrum. This law suppresses information under the guise of protecting minors."
Given the open and unregulated nature of the Internet, preventing indecent material from going to kids means preventing it from going to anybody, including adults. At an April 3 hearing, Ann Beeson, the ACLU lawyer representing the plaintiffs, argued that "the law criminalizes speech that is constitutionally protected," adding that "the Supreme Court has held that you can't reduce all communication to a level suitable for a 6-year-old."
If state laws such as New York's are allowed to stand, Beeson believes, the chilling effect on libraries - and on all free speech - could be even worse than that of the CDA because "the most restrictive state regulations will become the norm." Someone in Massachusetts who posts material that is "indecent" in Oklahoma could be extradited to the panhandle state.
Beeson expects a decision by early summer. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court opinion on the Communications Decency Act is expected in June or July. But even a ruling that the CDA is unconstitutional won't automatically void the New York law. As Beeson points out, a Supreme Court opinion striking down the CDA will not prevent state legislators from passing unconstitutional statutes. Net censorship will have to be fought state by state.
Hal Stucker
[Original story in Wired 4.03, page 104.]
High-Definition Deception
The HDTV swindle continued in March when the Oh-So-Grand Alliance of TV broadcasters announced its timetable for introducing the new standard: most stations now say they won't begin offering HDTV until after 2000. When the FCC balked, the National Association of Broadcasters revised the plan, slightly: within 18 to 24 months, 43 percent of US households will be surfing high-definition channels. This marginally faster timetable forced manufacturers Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc. and Panasonic to delay plans to offer HDTV sets in 1998.
More important, the broadcast industry's foot-dragging makes a farce of its deal with the FCC: high-quality digital programming in exchange for additional digital spectrum - at no cost. Yet the FCC is still committed to distributing new digital channels to every TV station in the country.
For the consumer, only one thing is clear: HDTV - or hogtied digital television - won't be a reality for years.
Checked Out
Once hailed as a visionary of the "library of the future," then mired in controversy over San Francisco's US$140 million new facility, Ken Dowlin resigned as the city's chief librarian in January. Since the main library opened in April 1996, patrons have complained of long lines and computer glitches, while bibliophiles - led by novelist Nicholson Baker - declaimed the purging of millions of books.
But Dowlin's coup de grâce was the reported $2.8 million deficit. The book czar attributes the overspending to increased staffing costs (library use is up 300 percent). "We went from a DC-3 to a 747," says Dowlin. The librarians union, meanwhile, cites bad management and overinvestment in costly computers.
Dowlin - still a true believer in digital libraries - is running for president of the American Library Association.
America Still Online
They say that having the shit kicked out of you builds character. In America Online's case, the experience has strengthened the company's technological infrastructure, and its membership base is holding at 8 million. Following months of criticism over prolonged busy signals and technological shortcomings - not to mention class-action suits and fights with state attorneys general over consumer fraud - AOL appears bruised but not beaten.
In fact, analysts say the recent pummeling helped the company. It spurred much-needed equipment upgrades, and, more important, the publicity spread the word among would-be netizens that AOL is the most popular and user-friendly access provider. "AOL's come through relatively unscathed," says Brian Oakes, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. "Press reports that people are still dying to get in just create intrigue."
Competitors such as CompuServe and AT&T WorldNet Service attempted to stir up a little intrigue of their own by claiming they'd attracted thousands of disenchanted AOLers. Perhaps. But as America Online gets its act together, the chickens, so to speak, are coming home to roost.
