IP: NY Exxon Bill soon to pass

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Posted-Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 22:49:22 -0500
From: john.perz () hvbbs com (John Perz)


As if the Exxon bill isn't bad enough, now we've gotta worry about all
50 state legislatures getting into the act! :(


The following article appeared in the Albany Times-Union on Wednesday,
January 17th, 1996.  The title is PORN BILL PROVOKES CONCERNS ONLINE,
OFF.  Measure's foes say state effort to thwart pedophiles punishes
computer services.  Byline is by Sarah Metzgar.


**********************************************************************
Albany - A bill intended to thwart online pedophiles is breezing its
way through the Legislature, worrying computer-service providers who
fear they'll be held criminally liable.


The measure, which would prohibit "disseminating indecent material to
minors," is on the verge of passage.  It was moved out of the Senate
Codes Committee last week and approved by the Assembly codes committee
last Tuesday.


"We need to put these protections into place to safeguard our
children,"  said Assemblywoman RoAnne Destito, a Utica Democrat who
introduced the Assembly Bill.  "I'm pleased it's one of the first
bills to get prompt attention."


Destito said the bill has the support of the Assembly leadership,
including Speaker Sheldon Silver.  Last year, the bill passed the
Senate, but not the Assembly.  If the bill passes, making sexual
advances toward minors in cyberspace would be a felony.


But the bill, as it currently stands, has it's opponents.


"According to these bills, you're equally liable if you transmit the
information - even if you couldn't control it or didn't know what
people were saying to each other," said Dianne Kennedy, a spokeswoman
for the New York State Newspaper Publishers Association.  "Obviously,
we're not in favor of pedophilescontacting children, but it's like
holding Amtrak responsible if a pedophile takes a train from Buffalo
to New York City to meet up with a child.


The newspaper association is involved in the lobbying effort
because many newspapers are starting to provide access to the
Internet.  Newspaper publishers are being joined by the Interactive
Services Association.


Destito says she ammended her bill last year to allay their concerns,
adding the word "intentionally".


"It was never our intent to make services - like Compuserve and
America Online - liable for a sexual predator's actions," Destito
said.  But she admitted that concerns remain.


Jill Lesser, a spokeswoman for People for the American Way, A
Washington DC based civil-liberties organization reviewed the bill on
Tuesday.  "It does not have an exemption for online service providers,
or the people involved in certain parts of the chain in sending a
communication.  It's not clear what 'intentionally' really modifies,"
she said.  "Is it intentional, if you're America Online, and you've
given someone the right to communicate through your service?  If you
committed this crime through the mail, the mailman wouldn't get into
trouble, Here, the interactive service provider is the mailman, and
there's nothing in here to exempt that mailman."


Lesser said the bill, to some extent, exempts material with
educational and scientific content - but puts the burden on the
provider, who would have to prove in court that the material has
value.


. . .


**********************************************************************