WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Supreme Court has blocked further consideration of a federal law designed to keep sexual material from underage users of the Web . The justices without comment Wednesday rejected an appeal from the federal government to reinstate the Child Online Protection Act ( COPA ) , passed by Congress in 1998 . The high court and subsequent federal courts said the law -- which has never taken effect -- had serious free speech problems . The Bush administration was a strong supporter of the law and the Justice Department led the fight in court to revive it . The justices issued their ruling a day after all nine were on hand for the inauguration of President Barack Obama . Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor also attended the ceremony . The case tested the free speech rights of adults against the power of Congress to control Internet commerce . The Supreme Court twice ruled against COPA , arguing that it represented government censorship rather than lawful regulation of adult-themed pornography businesses . The law would have prevented private businesses from creating and distributing `` harmful '' content that minors could access on the Internet . Free speech advocates said adults would be barred access to otherwise legal material and that parental-control devices and various filtering technology are less intrusive ways to protect children . The high court in 2004 upheld a preliminary injunction against the law and sent the case back to lower courts for consideration of the arguments . In their opinion at the time , the 5-4 majority concluded COPA `` likely violates the First Amendment . '' `` The government has not shown that the less restrictive alternatives proposed ... should be disregarded , '' Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 2004 decision . `` Those alternatives , indeed , may be more effective '' than the law passed by Congress . `` Filters are less restrictive '' he said , and thus pose less risk of muzzling free speech . `` They impose selective restrictions on speech at the receiving end , not universal restrictions at the source . '' He added , `` There is a potential for extraordinary harm and a serious chill upon protected speech '' if the law takes effect . '' In reconsidering the law , a federal appeals court in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , again ruled the law unconstitutional .
Justices reject appeal to reinstate the Child Online Protection Act . Score: 6 COPA would have kept businesses from distributing `` harmful '' content to minors . In 2004 ruling , justice said parental filters are less restrictive on free speech .