CNET's Declan McCullagh broke the story that Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has introduced a bill that would ban access to social networking sites (and virtually any other site where users contribute content) in public access locations such as libraries and schools.
The bill, called DOPA for the Deleting Online Predators Act, has been endorsed by House Speaker Hastert. McCullagh has posted a copy of the bill here. The bill is clearly in response to alarmist stories on the news about predators targeting MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites to identify and engage potential targets. The definition of social networking is quite broad: "...commercially operated Internet website that allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users and offers a mechanism of communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, e-mail, or instant messenger." The way I read that, it could ban users from reading blogs that allowed comments, or even Flickr or Wikipedia.
While I am not surprised at this knee jerk reaction, it's just disappointing to see Congress jump into things that they clearly do not have an understanding of. You don't protect children from online predators by reducing their access to the Internet any more than you would protect them from offline predators by banning children from parks and schools.
If the United States is to remain competitive economically, it's critical that we, as a society, embrace technology. While the Government challenges the science of Global Warming and Evolution, the one bright area for the U.S. in the sciences has been our continued innovation in the technology field. Between this DOPA bill and the COPE Act - telecom/cable efforts to charge a premium for Internet access, Congress is on the verge of mucking up the entrepreneurial innovation engine of the Internet.
I would like to propose a new Act; I call it No Congressmen Left Behind. It would require all members of Congress and their staffs to demonstrate proficiency in the basics of the Internet before they would be allowed to vote on any issue that impacts its use. I urge you to contact your Representatives and tell them to oppose both COPE and DOPA.
In the meantime, if you have children, take a few minutes to look at their MySpace page. Ask them to show you their FaceBook listing. Have a mature and intelligent dialog with them about the risks of sharing too much information on the Internet. Help them understand the boundaries. MySpace and FaceBook are not the problem. And ignorance is clearly not the solution.
It gets worse
http://news.com.com/Congress+may+make+ISPs+snoop+on+you+-+page+2/2100-1028_3-6072601-2.html?tag=st.next
Wisconsin Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is proposing that ISPs be required to record information about Americans' online activities so that police can more easily "conduct criminal investigations." Executives at companies that fail to comply would be fined and imprisoned for up to one year.
In addition, Sensenbrenner's legislation--expected to be announced as early as this week--also would create a federal felony targeted at bloggers, search engines, e-mail service providers and many other Web sites. It's aimed at any site that might have "reason to believe" it facilitates access to child pornography--through hyperlinks or a discussion forum, for instance.
In addition to mandating data retention for ISPs and liability for Web site operators, Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act also would:
• Make it a crime for financial institutions to "facilitate access" to child pornography, for instance by processing credit card payments.
• Increase penalties for registered sex offenders who commit another felony involving a child.
• Create an Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children inside the Justice Department.
New Internet felonies proposed
Following are excerpts from Rep. Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act:
"Whoever, being an Internet content hosting provider or email service provider, knowingly engages in any conduct the provider knows or has reason to believe facilitates access to, or the possession of, child pornography shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
"'Internet content hosting provider' means a service that (A) stores, through electromagnetic or other means, electronic data, including the content of web pages, electronic mail, documents, images, audio and video files, online discussion boards, and weblogs; and (B) makes such data available via the Internet"
"Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney General shall issue regulations governing the retention of records by Internet Service Providers. Such regulations shall, at a minimum, require retention of records, such as the name and address of the subscriber or registered user (and what) user identification or telephone number was assigned..."
Posted by: Liz | May 16, 2006 at 07:13 PM