| |
Supreme Court to rule on ban of TV/radio casino ads.
Investor's Business Daily, 1/18/99 issue (p.2, col. 6) reports: "The Clinton administration says the law is needed to protect compulsive gamblers from the lure of the casinos and games of chance. The justices said they will decide whether free-speech rights are violated by the government's ban on TV and radio ads that promote casinos not owned by Indian tribes. The ban is only in effect in parts of the nation where courts have upheld it."
In June of 1997, the Court overturned the "Communications Decency Act" or "CDA," a federal law aimed at protecting minors from sexually explicit material on the Net, saying that: "the interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship." The decision, in A.C.L.U. v. Reno, is regarded as one of the most important free speech decisions in many decades. It indicated that a more carefully drawn statute might be upheld if crafted so that it that did not have the effect of chilling adult-to-adult expression. Of particular interest is that the Court saw a clear distinction between the Net and broadcast media.
In its June opinion, the Court said in part:
"In Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U. S. 546, 557 (1975), we observed that "[e]ach medium of expression . . . may present its own problems." Thus, some of our cases have recognized special justifications for regulation of the broadcast media that are not applicable to other speakers, see Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U. S. 367 (1969); FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U. S. 726 (1978). In these cases, the Court relied on the history of extensive government regulation of the broadcast medium, see, e.g., Red Lion, 395 U. S., at 399-400; the scarcity of available frequencies at its inception, see, e.g., Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U. S. 622, 637-638 (1994); and its "invasive" nature, see Sable Communications of Cal., Inc. v. FCC, 492 U. S. 115, 128 (1989).
Those factors are not present in cyberspace. Neither before nor after the enactment of the CDA have the vast democratic fora of the Internet been subject to the type of government supervision and regulation that has attended the broadcast industry.(33) Moreover, the Internet is not as "invasive" as radio or television. The District Court specifically found that "[c]ommunications over the Internet do not 'invade' an individual's home or appear on one's computer screen unbidden. Users seldom encounter content 'by accident.'" 929 F. Supp., at 844 (finding 88). It also found that "[a]lmost all sexually explicit images are preceded by warnings as to the content," and cited testimony that "'odds are slim' that a user would come across a sexually explicit sight by accident." Ibid."
The full text of the ACLU v. Reno decision is available online at the ACLU site at aclu.org, along with additional editorial material on the issues. The Electronic Frontier Foundation at eff.org also takes an active role in following such cases and providing updates.
Those formulating business plans for online gaming should watch the new case closely as it is briefed in preparation for oral argument and a decision by the Supreme Court later this year.
Doug Simpson (long SNMM)
A Focus on Starnet's (SNMM) business model and legal issues of online gambling is online free at Net Nuggets, at dougsimpson.com
You can exchange views in a free, public forum on ECommerce at egroups.com |
|
