On May 31, the US District Court (Eastern District of Pennsylvania) struck down the Children's Internet Protections Act (CIPA). In its ruling, the three-judge panel found that, “[W]e are constrained to conclude that the library plaintiffs must prevail in their contention that CIPA requires them to violate the First Amendment rights of their patrons, and accordingly is facially invalid.” In the ruling, they entered an order declaring “Sections 1712(a)(2) and 1721(b) of the Children's Internet Protection Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 9134(f) and 47 U.S.C. § 254(h)(6), respectively, to be facially invalid under the First Amendment and permanently enjoining the defendants from enforcing those provisions.”

Numerous publications (including Wired and Washington Post) have recently reported that the US Department of Justice has officially notified the Supreme Court of its intent to appeal the decision.

See also:

• Number of Libraries Using Filtering Software Jumps in 2001