The US Supreme Court has refused to consider an appeal from city
officials in Tampa, Florida, who wanted it to shut down an adult
web site, Voyeurdorm.com. The court rejected the city's appeal of
earlier rulings that said zoning regulations do not apply to the
Tampa-based dorm in which 30 uncensored web cams follow the
activities of five female residents for viewing by the web site's
paying subscribers.
The city officials argued that the city’s zoning laws prohibit
an adult business from operating in the residential neighbourhood
in which the dorm is based. The laws were intended to apply to
adult cinemas or bookshops.
The case questioned whether or not the laws could be applied to
a property that was used “to distribute video.” The court said that
the rules “cannot be applied to a location that does not, itself,
offer adult entertainment to the public.”
Lawyers for Entertainment Network, the owner of the site, said in a
statement:
"We are very pleased the court was able to
step over the salacious obstacles the City of Tampa threw up over
this case and that the justices looked instead at the important
First Amendment issues instead of heeding arguments about sexual
expression. This is a major victory not just for people involved in
web sites dealing with sexual imagery, but also for anybody who
uses the internet to conduct business."
