Saturday, December 8, 2007

US approves Wi-Fi porn monitoring bill

Saw this come up on the boards, but it doesn't seem to make sense. Isn't child porn already illegal?

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000.

That broad definition would cover individuals, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, and even some government agencies that provide Wi-Fi. It also sweeps in social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail, and it may require that the complete contents of the user's account be retained for subsequent police inspection.

Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act, or SAFE Act--will "ensure better reporting, investigation, and prosecution of those who use the Internet to distribute images of illegal child pornography."

I can't quite imagine how something like this will be enforced and Fon was mentioned in the one article.

"Wi-Fi company Fon, which allows individuals to securely share Wi-Fi connections, suggested that its users may not be responsible for reporting illegal images."

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9829759-38.html

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9830648-38.html

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2205321/approves-wi-monitoring-bill

http://boards.fon.com/viewtopic.php?t=3832

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