INDECENCY IN EYE OF THE BEHOLDER?

Byline: Dave Ivey Associated Press

Louisa May Alcott would have blushed.

At a court hearing Friday on a law banning "indecency" on the Internet, a computer search for "little" and "women" pointed to a World Wide Web site featuring "Hot Pictures of Naked Women."

During Justice Department lawyer Jason Baron's cross-examination of Donna Hoffman, a Vanderbilt marketing professor and expert on the commercialization of cyberspace, he asked how to find information for a book report on Alcott's "Little Women."

"I would probably search for 'little' plus 'women' plus 'Louisa' plus 'May' plus 'Alcott,' " Hoffman replied.

But the government used a broader search, without the 19th century author's name, and found several sexually explicit sites.

"I think the judges know that those pages wouldn't have appeared if they had included 'Alcott' in their search. It was a pretty obvious attempt to try and shock the court - one with minimal effect," predicted Stefan Presser, counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

An ACLU-led coalition of free-speech defenders and an industry group filed lawsuits last month seeking to strike down the new Communications Decency Act. They say the law would violate First Amendment rights of adult computer users and might even ban discussions of breast cancer and safe sex. They also say the laws are unenforceable because of the extreme size and globally anarchic nature of the Internet.

The government contends the statute, signed Feb. 8 by President Clinton, will protect children from pornography.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter, one of three judges hearing the case, issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 15 that blocked part of the act, declaring the term "indecent" too vague. Justice Department officials decided not to begin prosecuting violators until the case is decided.

After Hoffman, who testified that the act will hurt the growth of business on the Web, government counsel Patricia M. Russotto cross-examined Pittsburgh librarian Robert Croneberger.

Croneberger, director of the Carnegie Library, said total compliance with the law - making sure all resource materials weren't "patently offensive" - would entail inspecting his entire computer catalog manually. He estimated he would need 180 additional staff members to search 2 million entries.

Russotto suggested using a key-word search for "sex" to identify potentially offensive titles, but Croneberger said it might eliminate some sites that are not indecent.

Russotto then tried to name a research subject that would not be affected by removing all references to sex. He asked first about gardening.

"Plants procreate," Croneberger said, eliciting an outburst of laughter from the courtroom, including from the three judges.

"What about Abraham Lincoln?" she tried next.

"Actually, I have read many journals about his sex life - or a purported lack thereof," he said.

"Geology?" Russotto asked.

"Well," Croneberger said. "Probably only if you put the rock together with the roll."