ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603250121
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Louisa May Alcott would have blushed.
At a court hearing Friday on a law banning ``indecency'' on the Internet, a computer search for ``little'' and ``women'' pointed to a World Wide Web site featuring ``Hot Pictures of Naked Women.''
During Justice Department lawyer Jason Baron's cross-examination of Donna Hoffman, a Vanderbilt marketing professor and expert on the commercialization of cyberspace, he asked how to find information for a book report on Alcott's ``Little Women.''
``I would probably search for 'little' plus 'women' plus 'Louisa' plus 'May' plus 'Alcott,''' Hoffman replied.
But the government used a broader search, without the 19th century author's name, and found several sexually explicit sites.
``I think the judges know that those pages wouldn't have appeared if they had included `Alcott' in their search. It was a pretty obvious attempt to try and shock the court - one with minimal effect,'' predicted Stefan Presser, counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
An ACLU-led coalition of free-speech defenders and an industry group filed lawsuits last month seeking to strike down the new Communications Decency Act. They say the law would violate First Amendment rights of adult computer users and might even ban discussions on breast cancer and safe sex. They also say the laws are unenforceable because of the extreme size and globally anarchic nature of the Internet.
The government contends the statute, signed by President Clinton on Feb. 8, will protect children from online pornography.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter, one of three judges hearing the case, issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 15 that blocked part of the act, declaring the term ``indecent'' too vague. Justice Department officials decided not to begin prosecuting violators until the case is decided.
Following Hoffman, who testified the act will hurt the growth of business on the Web, government counsel Patricia M. Russotto cross-examined Pittsburgh librarian Robert Croneberger.
Croneberger, director of the Carnegie Library, said total compliance with the law - making sure all resource materials weren't ``patently offensive'' - would entail inspecting his entire online card catalog manually. He estimated he would need 180 additional staff members to search 2 million entries.
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