Brief: Library association plans suit over filtering

The executive board of the American Library Association has voted to file suit over a law enacted in December that requires libraries and schools that receive money through certain federal funding programs to install content filters on computers that are used by kids to surf the Web.

The Children's Internet Protection Act, signed into law on December 21, 2000, is unconstitutional and creates an infringement of First Amendment protections, the ALA said in a news release issued after the executive board voted Wednesday to challenge CIPA in court.

No filtering software successfully differentiates constitutionally protected speech from illegal speech on the Internet, the ALA's release said. The ALA also cites a federal commission that studied child safety on the Internet last year, concluding that filters are not effective in blocking all objectionable content but do block much useful and constitutionally-protected information.

The association has not said when it will file its suit, a spokesman said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.