An internet bill re-introduced in Congress by Representative Linda Sanchez aims to turn internet flaming and harassment into a felony, with a growing number of Congressman and others becoming familiar with the bill.

Specifically, H.R. 1966, originally filed on April 2, will make it a felony if the messages have "the intent is to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person."  People using electronic means to harass others face possible fines or jail sentence up to two years, or both.

To date, the bill has the support of Sanchez and 14 other members of Congress, with Sanchez continuing to rally support for the bill.

Critics of the bill have come forward, as one blogger from the National Review Online's Media Blog called the bill the "Censorship Act of 2009."  UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh also criticized the bill, saying a number of everyday scenarios could be considered illegal by the bill, if the communications are "severe" enough.

Sanchez decided to create the bill, called the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, after Megan Meier killed herself in 2007 after being bullied on social networking MySpace. This is the second attempt, after a previous one in May 2008, to have the bill signed into law.

Sanchez defended the bill, stating,  "Congress has no interest in censoring speech and it will not do so if it passes this bill.  Put simply, this legislation would be used as a tool for a judge and jury to determine whether there is significant evidence to prove that a person 'cyberbullied' another. That is: did they have the required intent, did they use electronic means of communication, and was the communication severe, hostile, and repeated. So—bloggers, emailers, texters, spiteful exes, and those who have blogged against this bill have no fear—your words are still protected under the same American values."

It should be interesting to hear what other politicians and internet privacy experts say when they become aware of the bill that seemingly has slipped through the cracks up until this point.  The bill likely won't come close to being signed into law, but free speech experts are surprised 15 members of Congress are supporting the bill, and are looking for others to also support it.