Virtual Realities and Virtual Welters: A Note on the Commerce Clause Implications of Regulating Cyberporn

Abstract:     
This Essay draws an analogy between interstate catalog taxation cases such as Quill and National Bellas Hess, and the impact of disparate state obscenity laws on Internet porn. It suggests that the burden of complaying with disparate state obscenity standards could be, like the burden on catalog sellers of complying with disparate sales taxes and classifications, a burden on interstate commerce sufficient to trigger dormant commerce clause scrutiny. It also suggests that First Amendment doctrine should take account of similar concerns and chilling effects.

Keywords: commerce clause, obscenity, cyberporn, Internet, jurisdiction

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