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IP: Florida Community Can't Shut Down 'Voyeur Dorm'


From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 10:05:04 -0400


From: Chris Spurgeon <CSpurgeon () electronicink com>
To: "'David Farber'" <dave () farber net>


Prof. Farber...


Today's (10/5/2001) New York Times has an article about a federal court
ruling that seems to give legal weight to the concept of cyberspace as a
separate distinct location.


Here's an excerpt from the NYT article....

In its six-page ruling, the appeals court reckoned that although the Voyeur
Dorm house and its paid coeds exist on West Farwell Drive, no sexual
entertainment is "offered" to the public at that particular location, as the
Tampa statute stipulates. Rather, the court said, the sexually-themed images
are transmitted, displayed and consumed somewhere else: cyberspace.
"The residence of 2312 West Farwell Drive provides no 'offer[ing] [of adult
entertainment] to members of the public,'" wrote Judge Joel F. Dubina a
unanimous three-judge panel, referring to the zoning law's language. "The
offering occurs when the videotaped images are dispersed over the Internet
and into the public eye for consumption. The City Code cannot be applied to
a location that does not, itself, offer adult entertainment to the public."
Later in the opinion, Judge Dubina said: "Here, the audience or consumers of
the adult entertainment do not go to 2312 West Farwell Drive or congregate
anywhere else in Tampa to enjoy the entertainment. Indeed, the public
offering occurs over the Internet in 'virtual space.'"



http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/05/technology/05CYBERLAW.html


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