Many U.S. governmental officials are looking for ways to make the Internet
safer for adults and minors alike. The catch is that with the huge amounts of
traffic moving over the Internet, monitoring it all is difficult to say the
least.
Some of the legislature aimed at making Internet safer for users is outright
flawed, yet it still seeks approval. This was the case for the New
Jersey Online Dating bill that is seeking ratification in the New Jersey State
Senate despite what is viewed by many as glaring flaws in the logic of the
bill. The U.S. Attorney General has attempted, in the name of preventing child
pornography, to require
search engines to store web-browsing records of users.
A vote in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday approved a new bill by
a landslide that requires anyone offering open Wi-Fi connections to the public
to report illegal images including what is termed “obscene” cartoon and
drawings according to News.com. What
constitutes obscene isn’t defined specifically.
The Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act (SAFE Act) won by a
margin of 409 to 2 with the only two representatives not voting for the bill being
Republicans Rep. Ron Paul from Texas and Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia.
According to News.com, the SAFE Act
requires the following:
Anyone
providing an "electronic communication service" or "remote
computing service" to the public who learns about the transmission or
storage of information about certain illegal activities or an illegal image
must (a) register their name, mailing address, phone number, and fax number
with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's
"CyberTipline" and (b) "make a report" to the CyberTipline
that (c) must include any information about the person or Internet address
behind the suspect activity and (d) the illegal images themselves.
Illegal images is an umbrella covering everything from child pornography
(and rightly so) to images of minors fully clothed in overly “lascivious” poses
and some obscene depictions including drawings, sculpture and painting. The
ISP’s are the providers that the act is targeting and the providers would be
required to report the user transmitting illegal images and store copies of the
alleged illegal images.
Katie Dean, Head of the U.S. Internet Service Providers Association said,
“We remain concerned, however, that industry would be required to retain images
of child pornography after reporting them to NCMEC. It seems like the better
approach would be to require the private sector to turn over illicit images and
not retain copies."
The SAFE Act sets stiff penalties for ISP’s that fail to comply with the first
instance being a fine of up to $150,000 and up to $300,000 for repeated
offences. The good part of the legislation for the ISP is that if an ISPO
complies they are protected from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions.