Child Online Protection Act

Citation: Child Online Protection Act (Title XIV of Division C of the FY1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act, P.L. 105-277).

The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) made it a crime to send material over the Web that is “harmful to minors” to children. Called “CDA II” by some in reference to the Communications Decency Act that passed Congress in 1996, but was overturned by the Supreme Court, the bill restricted access to commercial material that is “harmful to minors” distributed on the World Wide Web to those 17 and older. COPA also was challenged in the courts.