The CIPA -- the Child Internet Protection Act -- is dead. At least for now, anyway. Further appeals may push it up to the Supreme Court.

The collection of confusingly-acronymed child/Internet laws has become bewilderingly vast, so let's review. The CIPA is, in my opinion, one of the most ridiculous and ill-advised of the lot. It would have made use of Internet-filtering software compulsory in any library that accepts federal funding.

It's the rare library that can subsist without federal subsidies, so this would in effect have made Internet censorship mandatory in public libraries.

The limitations and failures of such filtering software have been widely demonstrated, most notably through demonstrations of their tendency to block safe sex information, breast cancer information, and other useful health information.

However, even smut has its place in a library. Erotic fiction and photography have entered the pantheon of legitimate scholarly research topics, and consequently, I would find even a filter that didn't block health information to be more restrictive than should be acceptable in institutions that are dedicated to collecting, archiving and organizing our culture. Our whole culture.

As recognized by the three-judge panel, there are other ways to manage children's access to the Internet, ways that do not consequently limit the availability of relevant information to adults.

So, dance on the grave of the CIPA! Tramp the dirt down!