Supreme Court Decision on Internet Content Important to Web Gambling
The government lost its final attempt Wednesday to revive a federal law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet. This decision may play a key role in a court challenge brought on by the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA.org) related to online gambling.
iMEGA is challenging the US Government in a Philadelphia Appeals Court and it is that very court which ruled Wednesday that the Internet Content Law would violate the First Amendment, because filtering technologies and other parental control tools are a less restrictive way to protect children from inappropriate content online. The law would have barred Web sites from making harmful content available to minors over the Internet.
The act was passed the year after the Supreme Court ruled that another law intended to protect children from explicit material online - the Communications Decency Act - was unconstitutional.
The Bush administration had pressed the justices to take the case. They offered no comment on their decision to reject the government's appeal.
Five justices who ruled against the Internet blocking law in 2004 remain on the court.
The case is Mukasey v. ACLU. 08-565.
On Tuesday, iMEGA won its appeal filed in a Kentucky court pertaining to that commonwealth's attempt to seize some 141 online gambling domain names. Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear had claimed the sites were siphoning business from the local economy. The Internet Gaming Council and a handful of online gambling websites represented by local state attorney, Jimmy Johnson, were also instrumental in getting the lower court ruling thrown out.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
