Bush administration proposes mandatory Web rating, with criminal penalties [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6063554.html

Gonzales calls for mandatory Web labeling law
April 20, 2006, 11:35 PM PDT

Web site operators posting sexually explicit information must place 
official government warning labels on their pages or risk being 
imprisoned for up to five years, the Bush administration proposed Thursday.

A mandatory rating system will "prevent people from inadvertently 
stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet," Attorney General 
Alberto Gonzales said at an event in Alexandria, Va.

The Bush administration's proposal would require commercial Web sites to 
place "marks and notices" to be devised by the Federal Trade Commission 
on each sexually explicit page. The definition of sexually explicit 
broadly covers depictions of everything from sexual intercourse and 
masturbation to "sadistic abuse" and close-ups of fully clothed genital 
regions.

[...remainder snipped...]
_______________________________________________
Politech mailing list
Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)