The Utah attorney general’s office has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the state by pornography trade group the Free Speech Coalition aiming to get Utah’s so-called child protection registry declared unconstitutional.
“This lawsuit shows the pornographers true colors,” said Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s attorney general, in a statement. “They claim a right to market porn to adults, but by challenging our child protection registry, they have proven their real intent to force smut on our children in our homes and schools.”
The Free Speech Coalition, however, claims Utah’s law does nothing to protect children from inappropriate e-mail and places a needlessly onerous burden on legitimate businesses. The coalition filed a lawsuit on Nov. 17 claiming Utah’s Child Protection Registry Act violates the U.S. constitution and is pre-empted by the federal Can Spam Act.
According to Free Speech Coalition’s suit, Utah’s child protection act “unduly burdens” legitimate businesses, “and creates the kind of unworkable ‘balkanization’ of e-mail regulation that the federal preemption provisions of Can Spam are designed to prohibit.”
The suit also argues that Utah’s child protection law unconstitutionally interferes with interstate commerce.
Shurtleff’s statement failed to address the main arguments in the Free Speech Coalition’s suit.
“The state of Utah will vigorously defend the fundamental right of parents to keep porn out of their homes,” Shurtleff’s statement said. “The First Amendment does not allow pornographers to send materials to kids and parents who have expressly asked not to receive them.”
Laws in Michigan and Utah went into effect over the summer establishing so-called children’s protection registries. The registries allow parents and guardians to enter children’s e-mail addresses and “other contact points” as off limits to material it is illegal for minors to view or buy, such as pornography, tobacco and gambling services.
Marketers who want to send e-mail with content inappropriate for minors are supposed to scrub their lists against the registries on a monthly basis for $5 and $7 respectively per thousand e-mail addresses in Utah and Michigan.
More than 200 companies have registered to comply with Utah’s law, according to the attorney general’s office.
“The courts have consistently affirmed the right of local communities to set standards to protect children from pornography,” said Shurtleff’s statement. “The Utah Child Protection Registry creates an ‘adult section’ of Internet addresses and provides marketers a fair and secure way to keep salacious materials from children.”
It is likely just a matter of time before someone or group sues Michigan over its registry, as well.
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