American Civil Liberties Union

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Privacy Technology : Internet Free Speech : Press Releases

Broad Coalition Files Challenge To New Federal Net Censorship Law (10/22/1998)
Civil liberties groups today filed a court challenge to a federal Internet censorship bill signed by President Clinton despite serious constitutional concerns raised by his own Justice Department.

Preliminary Injunction Granted In ACLU Challenge to New Mexico Internet Law (06/23/1998)
Internet users in New Mexico and elsewhere in the nation are safe ... for now. At the close of a two-day trial in New Mexico, Federal District Judge C. LeRoy Hansen today blocked the state's unconstitutional Internet censorship law from taking effect as scheduled on July 1.

New ACLU Report Condemns Mandatory Blocking Software in Public Libraries (06/17/1998)
In a 17-page white paper released today, the American Civil Liberties Union said that the mandatory use of Internet blocking software in libraries is inappropriate and unconstitutional.

ACLU Challenges New Mexico Cyber-Censorship Law, Citing Commerce Clause and Free Speech Rights (04/22/1998)
In a complaint filed today in federal district court, the American Civil Liberties Union said that a New Mexico law criminalizing online communications violates free speech rights and the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

Judge Sets Highest Legal Hurdle For Using Blocking Software in Libraries (04/07/1998)
In the first major ruling on the use of Internet blocking software in libraries, a federal district judge today forcefully rejected a government motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the use of such software in public libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Spawn of CDA: New Internet Censorship Bills Slither Through Senate (03/12/1998)
The Senate Commerce Committee today approved two bills that reconstruct the unconstitutional provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act and remove power from parents and local communities to decide how to help children use the Internet safely.

Free Speech - 4, Censorship - 0: Another Internet "Decency" Law Falls (02/27/1998)
With federal and state lawmakers continuing to introduce cyber-censorship bills, the American Civil Liberties Union today hailed yet another victory for online free speech as a federal judge in Virginia struck down a restrictive Internet law.

ACLU Hails Victory as California Library Agrees to Remove Internet Filters from Public Computers (01/28/1998)
Responding to a warning from the American Civil Liberties Union that mandatory use of Internet filtering software may result in a lawsuit, libraries in Kern County, California, were sent this directive late Tuesday: "Please unfilter your terminals immediately!"

ACLU Says Internet Funding Proposal Would Put Big Brother in the Classroom (01/28/1998)
A plan that would require schools to block "indecent" Internet sites or lose federal funds for online programs is clearly unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Joins Appeal in Bernstein Encryption Case (11/24/1997)
The American Civil Liberties Union has joined with the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a coalition of other computer security experts and civil liberties groups in filing a friend-of-the court brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Bernstein, a case challenging the government's export restrictions on encryption products.

New York Judge Prohibits State Regulation of Internet (06/27/1997)
As the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision on Internet censorship, a federal district judge here today blocked New York State from enforcing its version of the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA).

ACLU Hails Supreme Court Victory in Internet Censorship Challenge (06/27/1997)
Press release following ACLU victory in Reno v. ACLU I

ACLU v. Reno: A Chronology (06/26/1997)
Chronology in the fight against the Justice Department and the CDA

Chronology of Reno v. ACLU I (06/26/1997)
A step by step chronology of the battle over the CDA and censorship on the Internet

Statements from Reno v. ACLU plaintiffs and witnesses (06/26/1997)
Several statements from plaintiffs and witnesses upon their successful defense of the first amendment on the Internet against the CDA.

ACLU Wins First-Ever Challenge to a State Internet Censorship Law in Georgia (06/20/1997)
As the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision on Internet censorship, a federal district judge here today struck down a state law criminalizing online anonymous speech and the use of trademarked logos as links on the World Wide Web.

ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to "Take the First Amendment Pledge" (06/16/1997)
As the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision on the future of free speech on the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center today launched www.firstamendment.org, a website dedicated to upholding the First Amendment in cyberspace.

ACLU Files Challenge to Virginia Internet Law on Behalf of Six University Professors (05/08/1997)
The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a challenge to a Virginia law that bans state employees from viewing "sexually explicit" communications online, saying that the law unconstitutionally curbs the free speech rights of state university professors and others.

NY's Internet Censorship Law Crosses State Lines, Violating Commerce Clause and Free Speech Rights (04/18/1997)
Residents of the Big Apple are known for thinking that New York is the center of the universe, but a state Internet censorship law extends that viewpoint too far, the American Civil Liberties Union says.

Witnesses Describe Internet Censorship Fears to Court; Oral Argument Set for April 22 (04/09/1997)
Witnesses representing an online arts group, a library, a gay issues forum and the American Civil Liberties Union have all testified that a New York statute barring "indecency" on the Internet could subject them to criminal prosecution.

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