In Big Win for Online Adult, U.S. Justices Won't Hear COPA

WASHINGTON — U.S. justices on Wednesday, without comment, let stand a federal appeals court decision that ruled unconstitutional the Child Online Protection Act, known as COPA.

COPA has never taken effect, but it would have authorized six-month jail term and fines up to $50,000 for the crime of placing material that is "harmful to minors" within the easy reach of children on the Internet.

It would have required commercial website operators who displayed online adult content to screen out children by requiring a credit card number or adult access code.

“This is a very significant ruling for the online adult industry,” attorney Jeffrey Douglas told XBIZ. “Had COPA been implemented, the industry would have been facing a severe economic burden. Many operators would have been faced to move their businesses overseas and it would have placed the industry in chaos."

The Bush administration argued in its appeal that a lower court ruling “would leave millions of children unprotected from the harmful effects of the enormous amount of pornography on the web.”

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged COPA immediately in 1998, arguing the law in its many different forms is unconstitutional. The ACLU and others claimed that COPA’s requirements would limit adults’ 1st Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court in 2004 stopped the law from taking effect, ruling that the law would restrict adult access to constitutionally protected material. The 5-4 ruling said that blocking and filtering software might be a less restrictive and more effective way to limit youth access to online adult content.

That decision sent the case back to the lower court level to consider the effectiveness of filters in more detail. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that filters “are more effective” than the law because they give parents more flexibility to block websites.

The Supreme Court also considered COPA in 2002, when a splintered court rejected a challenge that relied on a different legal theory.

COPA marked Congress’s second attempt to cordon off minors from sexually explicit pictures, videos and writings on the web. The Supreme Court struck down an earlier law, known as the Communications Decency Act, in 1997.

Joan Irvine, CEO of ASACP, told XBIZ that the two best methods to protect children from online adult content is filtering and parental responsibility.

"Last week the Internet Safety Taskforce, which consists of 49 state attorneys general as well as executives from Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, Verizon and AOL and was founded by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, presented findings of a year-long research on the topic," Irvine said.

"According to this report a reliance on mandatory age verification could actually leave our children less protected online. Instead, a multilayered approach encompassing education, empowerment and enforcement would be a more effective method of keeping kids safe," she said.

"The industry already is doing its parts by labeling with ASACP’s Restricted to Adults — RTA Website Label," she said. "There are more than 10 billion hits daily to pages labeled with RTA. So if parents use one of the many parental control systems, their children would not unknowingly be exposed to age-inappropriate content."

The case is Mukasey vs. ACLU, 08-565.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Australian eSafety Commissioner Demands Stricter Child Protection Codes

Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety, is once again reviewing a “final” draft of industry codes to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate content, after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant rejected the previously announced “final” codes as insufficiently stringent.

Liz Flynt Debuts 'Hustler: 50 Years of Freedom' Book

Liz Flynt has released her new retrospective book, “Hustler: 50 Years of Freedom.”

Nerdgasm: A Look at the Naughty Side of Pop Culture Geekdom

From “Call of Duty” to cosplay, from tabletop dice rolls to dungeon-inspired dirty talk, the worlds of geek fandom and fantasy are no longer confined to the basement. They’ve kicked down the door, shed the “Firefly” tee and gone full frontal.

Kyrgyzstan Parliament Moves to Outlaw Internet Pornography

A parliamentary committee of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday approved a measure to outlaw online adult content in the country.

Sweden Bans Purchase of 'Remote' Sexual Services

The Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, has approved a proposal to criminalize purchasing sexual services performed remotely by streamers and custom content creators.

Asa Akira to Deliver XBIZ Talk at Miami Conference

XBIZ is pleased to announce that decorated performer, Pornhub brand ambassador, and author Asa Akira is set to deliver an exclusive talk at XBIZ Miami.

JustFor.fans Launches 'Fentanyl Test Strip' Initiative

JustFor.fans (JFF) has launched a test strip initiative to combat the nationwide fentanyl crisis.

2025 XBIZ Miami Speaker Lineup Announced

XBIZ is pleased to announce the release of the full speaker lineup for XBIZ Miami, the latest edition of the adult industry’s premier summer conference, set to take place May 19-22 at the Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach hotel in South Beach.

AV Bulletin: Arizona's About-Face, What New Laws Mean for Adult

Industry stakeholders and free speech advocates have anxiously been awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which could significantly impact state age verification laws around the United States. In the meantime, state legislatures continue to weigh and pass AV bills, the U.K. and the EU are moving ahead with their own AV mandates and strategies, and legal challenges continue to play out in U.S. courts — with some cases on hold pending the SCOTUS ruling in Paxton.

Million Billion Media Launches New Website

Management and PR agency Million Billion Media (MBM) has launched a new website.

Show More