SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Senate today approved a spending bill that includes two amendments – one of which has been dubbed "Communications Decency Act II" – that would regulate distribution over the Internet of content that is deemed "offensive."

The amendments were tied to an appropriations bill outlining spending for the U.S. Commerce, State and Justice departments, which 99 senators unanimously approved today, according to information on the Appropriation Committee's site.

One of the amendments would require schools and libraries that receive federal funds for Internet connections to install filtering software to block access to "inappropriate" material. That proposal was sponsored by Senators John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, and Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.

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The second amendment, sponsored by Indiana Republican Senator Dan Coats, would enact a wide-ranging ban preventing commercial distribution of material deemed "harmful to minors."

That proposal has been dubbed Communications Decency Act II (CDA II) by some, for its similarities to the CDA bill of 1996, which made it a crime to send "indecent" material to minors over the Internet. That bill was passed by the legislature but was shot down by the Supreme Court last year, which ruled that it was too broad and therefore unconstitutional.

Critics of the amendments approved today, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, say the bills are harmful because they are too vague and threaten freedom of speech on the Internet.

"Both the bills are unconstitutional and we will fight them," said Stanton McCandlish, program director for the EFF in San Francisco. The bills violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which assures the right to freedom of speech, because they provide the government with too broad of powers to censor, he said.

CDA II is substantially the same as its predecessor, with the difference that the word "indecent" has been substituted with the word "harmful," McCandlish said.

While the senators' proposals may be well intentioned, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," McCandlish said.

The McCain bill, which would require installation of filtering software in schools and libraries, may be tougher for groups like the EFF to fight because the proposals are tied to federal spending, McCandlish said. The Coats bill he called "egregious."

The bill now goes to the House for approval. The two chambers would have to reconcile any differences before final votes are taken and before legislation is sent to the President for signing.

James Niccolai writes for the IDG News Service in San Francisco.