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Impact of Revised Child Porn Legislation on Libraries UncertainThe House approved a bill December 4 that expands an existing law penalizing internet service providers that knowingly fail to report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children images passing along an ISP’s network of child pornography or child sexual exploitation. The Securing Adolescents from Exploitation-Online (SAFE) Act of 2007 (H.R. 3791), sponsored by Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Tex.), passed by a vote of 409–2 and increases the maximum fines from $100,000 to $300,000. Privacy advocate Declan McCullagh said in a December 5 CNet news report that a broad interpretation of the legislation could affect libraries that provide wireless access, as well as social networking sites and e-mail service providers. Trevor Kincaid, a spokesperson for Rep. Lampson, responded in a subsequent posting that the intent of the act was to “stop the trafficking of child pornography on the internet without dissolving civil rights.” The legislation as proposed does not require service providers to “monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of that provider,” a clause that is carried over from the existing act (U.S. Code Title 42, Section 13032). ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Deputy Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone told American Libraries, “Library advocates need to monitor this legislation to see that nothing critical gets added or amended. While on the surface these changes do not seem threatening, a $300,000 fine, triggered by a third party, can lead to extremely serious consequences.” Posted December 14, 2007. |
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