Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union

Essay by Shaunk2298University, Bachelor'sA+, September 2004

download word file, 2 pages 4.0

One of the most significant cases where the government tried to promote uniformity was Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, where the issues were free speech broadcasted over the internet. The statue that had to be interoperated is the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which seeks to protect minors from harmful material on the internet. Reno tried to argue that the act was being violated. She sourced to provisions in the docket, which were the "indecent transmission provision and the patently offensive display provision" (Cheeseman 2004). On February 8th, 1996, the president signed the statue into law and immediately after that a total of 47 plaintiffs filed suit against the United States attorney general's office where Janet Reno was employed challenging the sanctions that were approved. The argument was heard by a three-judge district court. They felt that protecting the welfare of the children had authenticity and importance, but none the less, "the statute abridges the freedom of speech protected by the First amendment.

For the forgoing reason, the judgment of the district court is affirmed" (Cheeseman 2004).

The computer information transactions involve licenses, not sales. It also extends easily to sales of computers and computer peripherals. UCITA was initially proposed as an amendment to the Uniform Commercial Code. The UCC, article 2 involves sales among other issues. These rules are to govern commercial transactions. Article 2 is also applied by federal courts to sales contracts governed by federal law.

The difference between selling and licensing is significant. The definition of a license is "a contract that transfers limited rights in intellectual property and informational rights" (Cheeseman 2004). The definition of a sale is" the passing of title from seller to a buyer for a price" (Cheeseman 2004). The sale of a physical copy of a work has...