France to block child internet porn

(France is the latest country to move on this, but why is the US so late to get on board?) It wasn’t entirely late. Pennsylvania state law has had such laws since 2003 and the federal judge later struck it down claiming it violated freedom of expression. So the US has tried this a few years ago. (Does this mean that the decision in New York State will also be struck down?) I think it’s much less likely. (What’s the interest of the ISPs to go along with this?) To avoid a potential political embarrassment. (How can they do anything in the child porn fight? How can this be enforced?) that’s a fair question. Some background is that for many years ISPs have been legally obligated to take down child porn sites. The real news is this covers discussion groups which predate ISPs and those will be blocked now too. (Why is this one area so important in the deal?) The deal does not involve blocking overseas websites. (What is France going to do that the US can’t?) France isn’t bound by the First Amendment so they have more leeway in restricting freedom of speech and expression. The French ISPs are also going to restrict foreign child porn sites, which will be the next big battleground in the US.