A coalition of civil liberties groups and other organizations have filed a legal challenge to the Child Online Protection Act, which requires Web sites to obtain proof of age before allowing viewing of material considered "harmful to minors."
In papers filed October 22 in federal District Court in Philadelphia, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and 14 other plaintiffs sought an injunction against the law, which is scheduled to go into effect 30 days after it was signed by President Clinton as part of a huge year-end spending bill October 21.
At a news conference in downtown Philadelphia representatives of the coalition said the Justice Department was correct in its reservations about the law's constitutionality, despite legislators' claims that it was narrowly tailored to apply only to minors.
Other plaintiffs include the Internet Content Coalition, which includes Time/Warner and the New York Times Online; OBGYN.Net, a women's health Web site; and Powell's and A Different Light bookstores.