Many of you have expressed concern over the implications of a legislative subset of the recently passed telecommunications bill known as the Communications Decency Act or as its commonly addressed in Internet parlance, the CDA.

Novia Internetworking's position:

As a corporate citizen, Novia is both externally obligated and internally committed to maintain a standard of conduct in the marketplace that is legal and ethical.

The weight of industry and legal opinion regarding the CDA centers squarely on the conclusion that the law passed cannot withstand the scrutiny of judicial review. The courts echoed this analysis in issuing a temporary restraining order to the U.S. Department of Justice prohibiting the enforcement of the act until the conclusion of the case challenging the law's constitutionality, the ACLU vs. Reno.

At Novia we feel it is essential that the fundamental freedoms of the American social contract exist in all corners of the information society. In the case of the CDA, we are of the opinion that enforcement of the law would represent a significant erosion of the freedoms protected by the language of the First and Fourteenth amendments.

Closing arguments in the case of ACLU v. Reno are slated to begin on Friday, May 10. Because of the lack of precision associated with the language of the CDA, until a decision is rendered it is impossible for Novia to design a policy instrument capable of encompassing the law's implications. Should the law be upheld, we will notify you of the steps we plan to take to comply with it. While it may seem excessively libertine, our approach to policy to date has consisted largely of leaving such questions to the good judgment of our customers. We hope to continue in that tradition, courts and congress permitting.

Until more is known, check out the CDA Update page maintained by the Elctronic Frontier Foundation.