The Internet Archive has filed a new legal challenge against a New Jersey state law -- N.J. P.L. c. 51 § 12(b)(1); originally A3352 -- that aims to make online service providers criminally liable for providing access to third parties’ materials, conflicting directly with federal law and threatening the free flow of information on the Internet. This is the second time that EFF is representing the Internet Archive in order to block enforcement of a law that’s aimed at combatting online ads for underage sex workers but instead includes language that could put online libraries and other service providers at risk. The New Jersey statute is an almost carbon copy of a law successfully blocked by EFF and the Internet Archive last year. Backpage.com filed its own complaint seeking to strike down the New Jersey law.
Update: On August 9, 2013, District Court Judge Dennis Kavanaugh granted the plaintiffs' motions for a preliminary injunction, finding that plaintiffs were likely to prevail on its claims that the statute violated Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and the dormant Commerce Clause.