House bans misleading domains

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: GLIGOR1 () aol com
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 10:40:38 EST
To: lynn () icann org, vcerf () mci net, lhl () cs wisc edu, kmk7 () cornell edu,
fuchs () mellon org, farber () cis upenn edu, Dennis.Jennings () ucd ie
Subject: House bans misleading domains

House bans misleading domains

Two Net-related amendments added to ŒAmber Alert¹ bill

By Declan McCullagh
    

March 27 ‹ The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on
Thursday to ban pornographic Internet sites with misleading addresses and
computer-generated child pornography. During a debate over a bill to create
a notification network for child kidnapping cases, House members added two
technology-related amendments to the legislation.

       THE FIRST MEASURE, which was approved by voice vote, says anyone who
knowingly uses an innocent-sounding domain name to drive traffic to a sex
site could be fined and imprisoned for two to four years.
       The second amendment, which the House agreed to by a 406-15 vote,
represents Congress¹ second attempt to outlaw ³morphed² or virtual child
pornography. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court slapped down Congress¹ first
law banning nude images of computer-generated minors and underage teens,
saying the 1996 measure violated the First Amendment¹s guarantee of freedom
of expression. 
       After amending the bill, called the Child Abduction Prevention Act
(CAPA), the House then approved it by a vote of 410-14.

       ³The Internet can be used to deceive children into viewing
inappropriate material,² said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who drafted the
domain name amendment. ³These Web sites use legitimate-sounding domain names
to lure children to sites with sexually explicit material. Imagine your own
child visiting a Web site with a domain name that sounds like it contains
educational or child-related materials, only to have a lewd image pop up on
the monitor.² 
       CAPA originally was intended to create an ³Amber Alert² notification
network for child kidnapping cases. The name refers to Amber Hagerman, a
9-year-old girl abducted in Arlington, Texas, and later found murdered. The
proposal encountered modest opposition after House Judiciary Chairman James
Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., decided to transform it into a broader proposal
addressing criminal penalties, sex tourism and wiretapping.
       ³I commend the House for acting today on legislation that will help
expand, enhance, and coordinate the successful Amber Alert system across our
nation,² President Bush said after the vote. ³I look forward to the
legislation reaching my desk as quickly as possible so that I may sign it
into law.² 
       
SENATE APPROVAL NOT ASSURED
       One obstacle standing in the way of a speedy presidential signature
is the Senate, which already approved the Amber Alert proposal without the
additions the House glued onto it at the last minute. Because the two bills
are different, a conference committee will be appointed to draft a
compromise proposal.

       The domain name amendment is similar to a bill that Rep. Pence
introduced during the last session of Congress and reintroduced this year.
       Pence¹s amendment said that anyone who uses a misleading domain name
to try to lure people into visiting an obscene Web site faces up to two
years in prison, and anyone who tries to lure a minor to a sexually explicit
site that is ³harmful to minors² faces up to four years in prison. It
applies to all domain names around the globe, even those in other countries
and ending in suffixes such as .nl or .uk.
       The other amendment, which free speech advocates like the American
Civil Liberties Union argue is unconstitutional, would ban the creation or
possession of ³a digital image, computer image or computer-generated image²
that is ³indistinguishable² from a real minor. It was drafted by Rep. Lamar
Smith, R-Tex. 

       ³The Internet has proved a useful tool for pedophiles as they
distribute child pornography, engage in sexually explicit conversations with
children and hunt for victims in chat rooms,² Smith said. ³These predators
will be a mere click away from a lengthy prison sentence if my amendment
becomes law.² 
       In May 2002, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Congress¹ previous
attempt to ban any image that ³appears to be² an unclad youth was akin to
prohibiting dirty thoughts. ³First Amendment freedoms are most in danger
when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that
impermissible end,² the majority said. ³The right to think is the beginning
of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech
is the beginning of thought.²
       
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