Powell's Books is one of sixteen plaintiffs in a court challenge filed
Thursday, October 22, seeking an injunction against the new law.
What is The Child Online Protection Act?
Known as "CDA II" because of its similarity to the Communications Decency
Act which the Supreme Court struck down in Reno v. ACLU, The Child Online
Protection Act (COPA) will make it a crime to post anything on the Web for
commercial purposes that is "harmful to minors" unless the speaker
restricts access to that material by requiring a credit card or other adult
verification. The law will apply to written material as well as pictures,
and will outlaw any material which depicts or describes sexual conduct or
nudity. The bill has passed through Congress and has been signed by
President Clinton.
How Will COPA affect Powell's?
COPA will severely threaten Powell's ability to maintain its online
business. Censorship issues aside, erecting a reliable adult verification
fence at the door to our site is not yet technologically possible -
which is precisely why the Supreme Court struck down the earlier law.
Furthermore, the law will essentially ban minors from our online bookstore
(and others). Imagine that: bouncers at bookstore doors, denying entry to
anyone under eighteen. Powell's does not believe this to be a message we
should send to our children - that only adults should have access to books.
In this light, we'd ask whether COPA, itself, could be deemed "harmful to
minors."
What Kind of Books Will Be Banned?
With its imprecise, subjective standard, "harmful to minors," COPA's
definitions remain wide open to over-zealous interpretation.
What will be censored? Books about safe sex,
gender issues, and alternative lifestyles; books with "dirty" words; many
Health, Biology, Sociology, and Psychology titles; novels with even
moderately explicit romantic scenes; and, yes, probably every book written
about the nation's current President. In
a seven page
analysis of the bill, the Justice Department cited concern over "numerous ambiguities concerning the scope of [COPA's] coverage."
Should Powell's Comply?
No. COPA will outlaw the promotion and sales of thousands of titles
available to the general public at our physical locations. And because
powells.com does not require credit card information prior to the point of
sale, under COPA, Powell's could be held liable simply for listing many of
the titles in our database, without providing potentially "offensive"
excerpts or even summarizing the contents.
The Justice Department, itself, not only found "serious constitutional
problems" in the bill, but also questioned its efficacy when "children
would still be able to obtain ready access to pornography from a myriad of
overseas web sites" and "thousands of news group and Internet relay chat
channels on which anyone can access pornography."
Is Powell's alone?
No. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing fifteen plaintiffs
alongside Powell's, including EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center),
The Internet Content Coalition (members include The New York Times, Time
Inc., Warner Bros., Sony Online, Reuters, ZDNet, and MSNBC), American
Booksellers for Free Expression, CNET, OBGYN.Net (a women's health
website), Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others with an interest
toward protecting our free speech.
As Powell's official Values Statement promises, "We have a social
responsibility to the community and our industry to fight censorship."
Fortunately, The First Amendment protects this precious right. Powell's
is proud to join forces with these other organizations to translate our
values into actions, standing up against The Child Online Protection Act.
For the ACLU's official press release, go to:
http://www.aclu.org/features/f101698a.html
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