ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a general way to think about "vending technologies," and a specific way to link thought about these technologies to the question of free speech. The alternatives to the Communications Decency Act (CDA) are all what one might call "filtering" solutions. They are designed to facilitate content filtering rather than identity blocking, and all depend in the main on third parties rating the content to be filtered. For under CDA 2.0, the only speech that is burdened is Ginsberg-speech. All other speech is available without state imposed burden. Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) is a more efficient long-term solution to the problem of filtering than blocking software-it is cheaper and more general and more open to competition. And its consequences for the Net generally, and free speech in particular, are more dramatic as well. The constitutional problem with a state-sponsored or induced PICS regime can be stated in a word: narrow tailoring.
