PR for "Barbara Nitke and National Coalition for Sexual Freedom v John Ashcroft"
Nitke v. Ashcroft case # (01 CIV 11476 (RMB)) press release excerpt:
Full version: http://sethf.com/nitke/cda-trial.php
Challenge to the Communications Decency Act
Contact: Susan Wright, Spokesperson
917.848.6544
susanw[at-sign]ncsfreedom.org
http://www.ncsfreedom.org/
October 29, 2004, New York City - Testimony concluded on October 28,
2004, in Barbara Nitke and National Coalition for Sexual Freedom v
John Ashcroft, in the Federal District Court for the Southern District
of NY, case # 01 CIV 11476 (RMB). This lawsuit is challenging an
unconstitutional law called the Communications Decency Act (CDA) which
criminalizes free speech on the Internet. Plaintiffs are represented
by noted First Amendment attorney, John Wirenius.
...
The reliability of geolocation software was challenged by testimony
from Ben Laurie of The Apache Software Foundation. Seth Finkelstein,
a computer technical expert,
testified about the
conflicts between
geolocation software and the protection of privacy. Geolocation
software allows website hosts to block visitors from certain states or
areas of states. This is a critical component of the case because
obscenity is determined by "local community standards." Testimony was
sharply divided over the accuracy of geolocation software, varying
over a range of 60-95% effective. ...
[Note this case concerns provisions of the Communications Decency Act, such as the definition of obscenity and its "community standards" aspect, which were not addressed in Communications Decency Act cases such as Reno v. ACLU]
By Seth Finkelstein | posted in legal | on November 08, 2004 09:07 AM (Infothought permalink)
