Pennsylvania to require ISPs to block access to child porn sites

By The Associated Press

03.18.02

Printer-friendly page

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Starting next month, Internet service providers with customers in Pennsylvania will be legally responsible for blocking access to Web sites that contain child pornography.

A law signed last month by Gov. Mark S. Schweiker requires ISPs like America Online, EarthLink and a host of others to remove or disable access to child pornography within five days of being notified by the state attorney general.

The attorney general would first have to obtain a court order allowing the removal.

The statute has the blessing of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, but a representative of one technology civil liberties group said the new law could infringe on constitutional rights.

"I think there is a real First Amendment problem with this statute," said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the California-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Under the law, a court hearing into whether probable cause exists to shut down the site would be conducted with only the prosecution present, Tien said. Hearings involving censorship usually have both sides represented, he said.

But Larry Frankel, executive director of the ACLU's Pennsylvania chapter, said someone whose material was cut off could seek a later court hearing. An original version of the bill had no provision for judicial review, and the ACLU urged lawmakers to amend the measure, he said.

ISPs also say ordering them to block access to a site may be tougher than it seems. The bill essentially orders ISPs to control things they cannot control, says Sue Ashdown, director of the American Internet Service Provider Association, an organization of small ISPs.

"Once you use my service to get on the Internet, I have no way of controlling where you go and what you see," Ashdown said.

Smaller ISPs may also lack the money to engage in court battles over the content, Ashdown said.

Among larger companies, America Online was well aware of the new law and had talked with representatives of the attorney general's office about it, said AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham.

"We're still in the process of reviewing the implications and the impact of the law and we'll continue our discussions with the appropriate individuals," Graham said.

Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said the agency planned to expand its child sexual-exploitation unit in order to deal with the new law.

"We'll enforce the law as it is written," Harley said. "If somebody raises a First Amendment issue and files a lawsuit, we'll defend the law in court."

Pennsylvania's law is similar to a South Dakota law that requires employees of ISPs to report any child pornography to law enforcement officials. South Carolina has a law requiring the same of computer-repair technicians.

The head of one group that advises law enforcement officials on enforcing child pornography laws said the refusal of some ISPs to block access to Web material and remove newsgroups voluntarily is prompting Pennsylvania to act on its own.

"Many are refusing to take it off and Pennsylvania is saying, 'Enough is enough. We're going to make them take it off,'" said Bruce Taylor, president and chief counsel of the National Law Center for Children and Families.

The law might be limited in its reach anyway, said John Philip Jenkins, a Penn State professor of religious studies and history who has researched Internet pornography issues.

The vast majority of child pornography Web sites are temporary fixtures that only are available for a couple of hours and then are gone, Jenkins said. Most child pornography is delivered through newsgroups that are already not available on ISPs in Pennsylvania, he said.

"Child pornography is a very big problem," Jenkins said. "There's probably more out there than anybody knows, but this probably won't be an effective way of doing anything about it."

Update

WorldCom ordered to block child-porn sites
Judge's ruling is first in Pennsylvania since new legislation lets law enforcement block child pornography from Internet providers.  09.20.02

Related

New S.C. law requires computer techs to report child porn
ACLU attorney says legislation invades privacy, may be unenforceable.  08.03.01