Ch. 02: Introduction

Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines, Co., 227 F. Supp.2d 1312 (S.D. Fla. 2002) (granting, on grounds that defendant's webpage not a "place of public accomodation," defendant's motion to dismiss claim alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act) [an alternate source (PDF format)]

1. Reno I proved a watershed in Internet law jurisprudence, for in it the Supreme Court recognized the medium as deserving the fullest protection of the First Amendment. That holding relied crucially on the trial court's detailed findings of fact, reproduced in relevant part above. Although the Internet's fundamental features have not changed since Reno I, it bears reflecting, as you advance through the course, on how the case would have come out were more recent technologies at issue. Note, for instance, that Reno I says nothing of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks or weblogs (blogs).

2. With the opinion Access Now in mind, reassess the issue presented in note 4 of part A, above.

3. The Eleventh Circuit dismissed the appeal of the Access Now plaintiffs, though only on the rather unsubstantive grounds that they had so changed their claims as to present the court of appeals with a case wholly different from the one they brought to the district court. Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines, Co., 385 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2004). For a decision more substantively supporting Access Now, see Noah v. AOL Time Warner, Inc., 261 F. Supp. 2d 532 (E.D. Va. 2003) (ADA does not apply to virtual forums for communication such as chat rooms), affirmed, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 5495 (4th Cir. Va., Mar. 24, 2004).