FEPP Archives - News

2001-2002

Scholars Ask American Academy of Pediatrics to Reconsider Misstatements About Media Violence
(2001-02) - FEPP and a group of media scholars asked the American Academy of Pediatrics to reconsider its November 2001 Policy Statement on Media Violence because of its "many misstatements about social-science research on media effects." The AAP responded, but refused to allow its letter to be published.

National Research Council Adopts FEPP’s Approach to Internet and Youth
(May 2, 2002) - The NRC released a 402-page report that largely agreed with a white paper that FEPP submitted to the Council on three crucial issues: Internet filters, media literacy, and "harm to minors" from sexually explicit content.

CIPA Bites the Dust
(May 31, 2002) - A federal court ruled that requiring Internet filters in public libraries violates the First Amendment. See Ignoring the Irrationality of Internet Filters for commentary on the Supreme Court's reversal of this decision.

FEPP Asks AMA To Stop Playing Politics With Media Violence
(June 2002) - At a panel on media violence in May 2001, Dr. Edward Hill, chair-elect of the American Medical Association, said there were "political reasons" for the AMA to sign on to an inaccurate statement claiming scientific proof of adverse effects from media violence. A year later, in the wake of continuing misstatements about the social science research, FEPP asked the AMA to reconsider its policy.

Media Scholars File Brief in St. Louis Video Games Case
(September 25, 2002) - 33 media scholars, historians, psychologists, and games researchers filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, opposing a law that bars minors from video games containing "graphic violence." The scholars' brief explains that most efforts to prove adverse effects from media violence have yielded null results, and that "experts on childhood and adolescence have long recognized the importance of violent fantasy play in overcoming anxieties, processing anger, and providing outlets for aggression."

2003

"Your Revolution" is Not "Indecent" After All
(February 20, 2003) - Under pressure from a lawsuit by the feminist rapper Sarah Jones, the FCC changed its mind and ruled Jones's powerful rap poem is not indecent after all.

Appeals Court Strikes Down St. Louis Video Games Law
(June 3, 2003) - The decision agrees with FEPP's brief on behalf of 33 media scholars that experimenters have not proven violent content to have widespread adverse effects.

New Government Report is a Sales Pitch for Internet Filters
(August 15, 2003) - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's flawed report naively accepts the claims of filter manufacturers.

Supreme Court Upholds the Campaign Finance Law
(December 10, 2003; updated April 25, 2007) - Recognizing that influence-peddling and political corruption are undermining our democracy, the Supreme Court has turned back a constitutional challenge to the major provisions of the McCain-Feingold law.

Appeals Court Stops File-Sharing Subpoenas
(December 19, 2003) - The D.C. Circuit's decision bars the recording industry from forcing ISPs to reveal the names of subscribers for whom they simply transmit e-mail or provide Internet conections; but it may provide only temporary relief to those who share music online.

2004

Part of the "USA PATRIOT Act" is Unconstitutional
(January 27, 2004) - Court rules that ban on "expert advice or assistance" to groups branded as "terrorist" could easily include "unequivocally pure speech and advocacy protected by the First Amendment."

Federal Court Rejects First Amendment Challenge to the DMCA
(February 25, 2004) - Judge Susan Ilston's ruling that "DVD Copy Plus" violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ignores the First Amendment interest in a robust public domain.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over
(April 8, 2004) - A new lawsuit spotlights thousands of copyright "orphans" that should be in the public domain.

Congress Weighs In On Movie Filters
(May 21, 2004) - Threats to change copyright law if directors and studios don't allow censorware to blur, cut, and bleep.

Supreme Court Strengthens Cheney's Hand
(June 24, 2004) - The justices guard government secrecy against potentially "vexatious litigation."

Appeals Court Upholds File Sharing
(August 20, 2004; updated June 28, 2005) - Rejecting industry arguments, judges say that the technology has important legitimate uses.

Companies Can't Use Copyright Law to Squelch Competition
(November 17, 2004) - The U.S. Court of Appeals rejects Lexmark's bid to monopolize the market in toner cartridges.

Court Dismisses New Challenge to Copyright Regime
(November 29, 2004) - A federal judge says that moving to an "unconditional" system didn't change the basic contours of copyright law.

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