technology protection measure . . . to enable access for bona
fide research or other lawful purposes." CIPA Sec. 1712(a)(2)
(codified at 20 U.S.C. Sec. 9134(f)(3)). CIPA's disabling provision
with respect to libraries receiving E-rate discounts similarly
states that "[a]n administrator, supervisor, or other person
authorized by the certifying authority . . . may disable the
technology protection measure concerned, during use by an adult,
to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purpose."
CIPA Sec. 1721(b) (codified at 47 U.S.C. Sec. 254(h)(6)(D)).


To determine whether the disabling provisions cure CIPA's
lack of narrow tailoring, we must first determine, as a matter of
statutory construction, under what circumstances the disabling
provisions permit libraries to disable the software filters.
It is unclear to us whether CIPA's disabling provisions permit
libraries to disable the filters any time a patron wishes to
access speech that is neither obscenity, child pornography, or in
the case of a minor patron, material that is harmful to minors.
Whether CIPA permits disabling in such instances depends on the
meaning of the provisions' reference to "bona fide research or
other lawful purpose." On the one hand, the language "to enable
access for bona fide research or other lawful purpose" could be
interpreted to mean "to enable access to all constitutionally
protected material." As a textual matter, this reading of the
disabling provisions is plausible. If a patron seeks access to
speech that is constitutionally protected, then it is reasonable
to conclude that the patron has a "lawful purpose," since the
dissemination and receipt of constitutionally protected speech
cannot be made unlawful.