Interview with Counsel on the COPA Case

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court struck down the latest version of the Child Online Protection Act, an internet censorship bill. AmLaw Daily interviewed one of the outside counsel on the case (who happens to be my brother). A key quote:

Several states have tried in various ways to restrict content on the Internet. The intersection between the First Amendment and the Internet is very interesting, especially the question of how you can apply doctrines from the physical world to the Internet. It just doesn’t translate well.

Notable differences between the internet and the physical world include the lack of scarcity (since the amount of information that can be deposited online is fairly limitless) and the degree of choice viewers have (since no content is forced on anyone). So, the internet cannot be regulated in the same way as broadcast TV or billboards.

Just goes to show that even if you work at a big firm, you can do interesting and vital work for liberty.