 |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
|
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| MORE SERVICES: |
| video on demand |
| video archive |
| audio on demand |
| news email services |
| free email accounts |
| desktop headlines |
| pointcast |
| pagenet |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| SITE GUIDES: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| WEB SERVICES: |
From...
CDA II targets Web site operators
September 21, 1998
Web posted at 11:20 AM EDT
by Patrick Thibodeau
(IDG)
-- Commercial Web site operators that deal in pornography or material
considered "harmful to minors" would be required to restrict access to
their sites to adults, under a bill approved by a House subcommittee yesterday.
HR 3783, The Child Online Protection Act, which opponents call a remake of the failed Communications Decency Act (CDA), would require Web site operators to limit access by people under 17 by using access codes, credit cards or PIN numbers.
The bill was approved by the House Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications by voice vote. It's expected to go to the full Commerce Committee next week.
Proponents of the new bill said it can overcome the legal weaknesses of the CDA, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1996, by using the "harmful to minors" standard.
|
|
||
|---|---|---|
 |
IDG.net home page | |
| Computerworld's home page | ||
| Computerworld "Emmerce" | ||
| Get Media Grok and The Industry Standard Intelligencer delivered for free | ||
| Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net | ||
| IDG.net's personal news page | ||
| Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you | ||
|
Search IDG.net in 12 languages |
||
| Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletter for IT leaders | ||
| News Radio | ||
 |
Computerworld Minute | |
|
|
Fusion audio primers | |
That standard "has about 40 years of case law behind it, and it's been used by the Supreme Court a number times, so it's clear out there what it is," said Peggy Peterson, a spokeswoman for Rep. Mike Oxley (R-Ohio), the bill's chief sponsor. The legislation has about 60 co-signers.
Opponents, which include such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and Electronic Frontier Foundation, charge that the bill contains many of the same unconstitutional provisions contained in the CDA, which "have the effect of criminalizing protected speech among adults," the groups said in a joint statement.
Although the bill targets commercial Web sites, "that term is so broad that it covers anything from an online book seller like Amazon.com to a non-profit Web site that sells books or T-shirts," said opponents, in a statement submitted to the subcommittee.
The bill includes liability protections for Internet service providers as long as they don't produce the content in question. Violators of the proposed law would face penalties ranging up to six months in jail and a $50,000 fine.
The bill defines "harmful to minors" as any communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article, recording, writing or other matter of any kind that appeals to a prurient interest, and taken as a whole "lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors."