A friend pointed this law out to me recently, having to do with schools, libraries, and filtering the internet for our kids. Naturally, that sort of thing is right up my alley, so I started doing some research, finding out some of the details.
The law is called the Children's Online Protection Act, or CIPA (pronounces sip'-uh) and is designed to protect our kids from online predators. But this one actually gives the local libraries and school boards the power to determine what else may be considered "harmful to children." This means responsible parents can actually have an impact on what their children can access at school and the library.
Of course, there are religious fanatics and ultra-conservative that have already tried to use the law to censor constitutionally protected freedom of speech from making it to their kids' computer desktops, but there is still a strong patriotic element throughout the country that is interested in a healthy balance between the extremist right, and protecting our kids from online predators.
I have to say, this law is primarily focused on protecting kids from pornography, which is really designed for adults anyway. But anything that is intended to help protect our kids has to be seen as a good thing in general - which may have something to do with why the government is using that as a mask for some of the ultra-restrictive legislation running through the house and senate.
These are, indeed, difficult times, and it will take discernment and community involvement to bring an appropriate balance of liberty and protection to the table.