It's one of the first such laws in the country, although other state governments have discussed the issue. McCandlish and other opponents of legislating access to content on the Internet say such laws hinder the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech and are therefore unconstitutional. But key in crafting the Texas law, in fact, were the state's ISPs. The proposal, made originally by a state representative in San Antonio, was immediately popular, and the state's ISPs jumped on the bandwagon, said Chad Kissinger, president of ISP Onramp Access, based in Austin, Texas. The ISPs took an interest to ensure that the law was not too restrictive, Kissinger said.
Liability is also a major concern on both sides of the issue.
Kissinger said the Texans were hoping that complying with the law would offer protection in the event of a lawsuit. But McClandlish said that regulating access to content invites liability issues. His group, however, is not currently involved with any legislation involving filtering. The Texas ISPs got involved in order to circumnavigate worse legislation in the future. The group was hoping to have secured some political clout as being cooperative, reasonable and proactive if future legislation surfaces and is more restrictive, said Kissinger, legislative contact for the Texas ISPs.