Congress takes up online threats to children
Amid an economic crisis, Congress found some time this week to address online threats to children.
The Protect Our Children Act, introduced by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., made it through the Senate on Thursday. Separate bills authored by Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton were folded into the legislation, which authorizes more than $320 million for the Justice Department over the next five years for, among other things, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The bill would affect how Internet companies report online child pornography to authorities, and it approves funds for law enforcement to focus on online child exploitation.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, a bill that would would ban the sale or distribution of prescription drugs over the Internet without a valid prescription. Matching legislation passed in the Senate in April, but the House sent its version back to the Senate with amendments on Thursday.
Under the proposed law, online pharmacies would have to comply with pharmacy licensing laws in each state in which they do business and register with the relevant state attorneys general. Some congressmen questioned the impact of the bill, given that so many online pharmacies that distribute drugs without prescriptions are based outside the U.S.
The bill is named after Ryan Haight, an 18-year-old who died from an accidental overdose of Vicodin, Valium, and a trace of morphine, which he acquired with prescriptions over the Internet.
Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse investigated online pharmacies selling prescription-free drugs this year and found 40 percent of the sites found indicated that the drugs would be shipped from outside the U.S., according to Susan Foster, CASA's vice president and director of policy research and analysis. Another 36 percent did not indicate a location.
Christine Jones, general counsel for Internet domain registrar Go Daddy, said the bill would still be effective.
"It doesn't matter where the Web site operator is," Jones said. "If I can't find their name on the list of approved sellers, that makes that Web site illegal."
Stephanie Condon is a staff writer for CNET News focused on the intersection of technology and politics. She is based in Washington, D.C. E-mail Stephanie. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8APlx9btTn8
So funny but true..
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10052502-38.html#addcomm
If people would like to continue the discussion that was there here, that'd probably be good, because noone questions the nolbe intent of legislation like this, and had this bill passed as intended, rather that get bogged down in Coburn's wranglings, and bascially Reid bent over for Coburn, during an election year of all year, is the the backbone of a Democratic controlled government?
But, anyways, as it was discussed in the previous story about this, now that it is about to become law, how in god's name can they enforce this, it still is, as the House's version, all over the place with definitions, and practically anything that can be deemed "obscene" can be reportted, I'm not sure if you only face fines, or if you face jailtime for not reporting like Schumer wanted, but the fines alone will be enough to drive ISPs to falsely report anything that might be questionable, hell, an adult in pigtails, or whatever the ISPs's state considers "obscene", because in part of the bill it allows for the section 1466A. of USC Title 18 code, the law that designates "obscenity", whether of age or not as being criminal, and because of this, you'll see trials like the Edwin Meese cases of the 80s all over again, only this time it'll be regular joes and ISPs on the hook and not artists... really, this seems to me to be a backdoor ante on the "war on porn", trademarked by Republicans, now followed by Democrats, to pretty mch have a witch hunt payed for by ISPs to take care they don't miss somethin on their networks.
It's like Cuomo's recent shakedowns, but worse, he was just NY AG, he could write legislation and change law on a whim, but these congressional Democrats can.
This bill is scary enough for me to want to take a hiatus from the internet for a while, until I see how these new regs play out and if they go all crazy on this... it doesn't just apply to ISPs, remember, the SAFE Act applies to websites as well, like this one and google, and place on the internet where user-posted content can be found, the hosts of those sites will have to constantly monitor everything, and possibly report things that are not true crimes, in order to feel to fill a quota.
This has bad legislation written all over it, and if we had constitutional courts, it would be thrown out, but seeing as how SCOTUS didn't throw out COPA this last time, or whichever bill it was that said drawing are illegal, I don't hold out much hope this bill will get the proper death it deserves in the court, but if I was an ISP or user-content driven website right now, I'd be drafting up papers with my lawyers for a court challenge.
Excuse me, but I was having sex with adults and teenagers as a child, and I could NOT be taken advantage of by anyone. One threat to tell my parents, if I didn't like something that was going on, and those people stopped the things I didn't like. Even then, out of 2000 sexual encounters between 7 and 16, I only had 4 that I really disliked. Two of them.... I'm not even sure that they did happen, I might have been dreaming or having a nightmare actually. The other two...... I was sexually assaulted by a group of black and hispanic boys near where I live who were YOUNGER than me or just a little older than me at 12!
So, adults were not a big 'threat' to me and from talking with other people, children and adults... wasn't a big problem for them.
I feel sorry for the people who are brainwashed into thinking that they were 'taken advantage of' during childhood by someone making love to them. The reality, even with incestual relationships, is that the child in question only 'dislikes' them because they have been brainwashed with religious non-morality.
If they would disregard that non-morality, as I did as early as 4 years old, when I realized that adults were full of BS about sex when I had my first pleasurable sexual encounter with another child..... they wouldn't have ANY harm from the sexual relationships except a more permissive sexual nature, which isn't really a 'bad' thing except in the minds of the religious brainwashed.
People, realize that YOUR CHILDREN HAVE THE SAME RIGHT TO SEX AS YOU DO! If you want to protect them from being forced into sexual relationships against their will, here is how you do it: 1. Legalize pedosexuality, 2. Put massive amounts of dollars into finding cures or vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases, 3. Bring pedosexuality out into the open and allow children from about 2 to be propositioned IN FRONT OF OTHER ADULTS AND CHILDREN, 4. Mandate VERY early sex education, starting from the age of 2, as I did with my cousins and other children with their parents permission (and no, I did not teach them that sex was 'bad' and 'wrong').
Do those 4 things, and a few others I would think of given enough time........ and pedosexuality would be just as safe as heterosexuality is, if not safer than heterosexuality and homosexuality.
You are so screwed up you can not even see it.
Yes, you were abused and taken advantage of. Seek help.
It's time for a change, no longer will we be subject to the hate of the world, it is time we stood up and demaded our freedom, our equility, our justice! I''ve heard people tell me that we (the pedo) are the scum of the earth, that we are a virus in need of a cure, that we should be hunted down and killed in the streets like dogs! Funny part is: the people who say these things are the ones who call us monsters. If you support freedom and that all people have the right to live there lives as they choose, if you support eqaulity and that no one should ever have to suffer becasue their diffrent, if you support Justice and that we all have the unalianable rights of live, liberty and the pursiut of happyness; then you should support us. Our civil rights movment will soon begin.....
Long Live Freedom!
Long Live Equality!
Long Live Justice!
Long Live the Pedosexual!
The influence of the Bible has created laws that are against the natural well being of a human and his needs to reach self-actualization. This fight will continue and the more lawmakers that are hypocrites get lock in jail the better.
Chronological age is just as flawed but easier to enforce. A 15 year old 150 years ago is different than a 15 year old today. Given that, I think 16 is more fair than 18. It is disgusting that 18 and 19 year olds are in jail because of their 16 year old girlfriend.
If a site is hosted in Switzerland, what are the US authorities going to do about it? Fly in with a special ops task force, to force the local populace into submission?
If a site is legal in its home country, there is diddly-squatt the US can do about it. Well, except start censoring the internet in the same fashion as China, cutting IP blocks attached to undesired products off from access to the US at the central net hub level. I personally cannot see them doing that without serious backlash from both commerce and the populace.
- by mlccrc November 3, 2008 11:59 AM PST
- It appears that many of your readers believe that government protection of children online is somehow an invasion of their privacy. Yet if they were aware of the statistics might think otherwise.
- Reply to this comment
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(12 Comments)? Child pornography is one of the fastest growing businesses online, and the content is becoming much worse. In 2004, Internet Watch Foundation found 3,433 child abuse domains; in their 2006 annual report, they knew of 10,656 child abuse domains (Internet Watch Foundation. Annual Report, 2006).
Given the numbers above and what happened to Ryan Haight it seems rather clear that we need more protection for our children. Yes, teens are smart and most are internet savvy?however, the internet, while a great resources for children, also has a very dark side.
We need to look at the bigger picture and ensure that ISP?s are responsible for doing all they can to keep predators away from children. We can?t let ISP?s off the hook and not report online child pornography.
Moreover, we need websites such www.guardchild.com that provides parents with the tools they need to protect their children online.