From: EEkid@aol.com
[mailto:EEkid@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 8:28 PM
To: dave@farber.net; dfarber@cs.cmu.edu
Subject: House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites
"Wednesday's vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the
Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that's
supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced
October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In
addition, the legislation approved this week has changed substantially since
the earlier version
and was not available
for public review.
This
is what the SAFE Act requires: 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. (By the way, "electronic communications service"
and "remote computing service" providers already have some reporting
requirements under existing law too.) "
"The definition of which images qualify as illegal is
expansive. It includes obvious child pornography, meaning photographs and
videos of children being
molested. But it also includes photographs
of fully clothed minors in overly "lascivious" poses, and certain
obscene visual
depictions including a "drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or
painting." (Yes, that covers the subset of anime called hentai)."
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