US internet law blocked

The United States Supreme Court has blocked a law meant to shield web-surfing children from dirty pictures and online come-ons, ruling that the law would also cramp the free speech rights of adults to see and buy what they want on the internet.

Technology such as filtering software might better protect children from unsavoury material than such laws, the court said in a 5-4 ruling yesterday.

"Filters are less restrictive" and thus posed less risk of muzzling free speech, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.

"They impose selective restrictions on speech at the receiving end, not universal restrictions at the source."