Opponents of the Child Online Protection Act convinced a federal judge to issue a restraining order November 19 blocking its enforcement. Although U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed ordered a 10-day delay, he was expected to extend it until a December 8 hearing.
Although Reed stressed that this was not a final ruling on the merits of the law, which requires commercial Web sites to obtain proof of age before allowing viewing of material considered harmful to minors, opponents saw it as a hopeful sign. David Sobel, general council for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the C/Net online news service the ruling was "a strong indication that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail and that the statute is likely to be found unconstitutional."
Testifying before the judge were plaintiffs Norman Laurila, founder of A Different Light bookstores, and David Talbot, editor of the online magazine Salon, who argued that age-verification systems would discourage their customers.
Posted November 23, 1998.