Lawyers argue validity of '98 online law.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

PHILADELPHIA (AFX) - Justice Department attorneys, defending a law aimed at keeping online pornography from minors, argued that software filters often block valid sites -- on gay rights or sexual health, for example -- that teens might seek out.

"Filters are hindering minors from learning about the world around them. That's a huge problem," government lawyer Joel McElvain said Monday. "There may be reasons the teenagers have problems speaking to their parents about these (issues)."

Under the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, commercial Web publishers who fail to keep material "harmful to minors" away from children could …