Internet filtering law approved by Senate Committee
United States Senate Commerce Committee today passed a bill that would require the to review, within one year of enactment, technology that can help parents manage the vast volume of video and other content on television or the Internet, just a week after Senators made a bipartisan call to implement universal filtering on the Internet.
Free speech groups including the Center for Democracy and Technology expressed concerned that Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007 (S. 602) may represent a step toward expanding the FCC’s censorship authority to include Internet content.
“It’s an uphill battle for parents trying to protect their kids from viewing inappropriate programming. I believe there is a whole new generation of technology that can provide an additional layer of help for these parents,” the bill’s sponsor Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AK) said. “My bill simply lights a fire under the FCC to take a fresh look at new options in the marketplace.”
Within 120 days of the Act becoming law, the FCC will be required to “initiate a proceeding to consider measures to encourage or require the use of advanced blocking technologies that are compatible with various communications devices or platforms.”
The law stipulates that FCC’s advanced blocking technologies would extend to “a wide variety of distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and Internet platforms.
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who is currently mired in a corruption scandal, is a major proponent of Internet filtering.
“Given the increasingly important role of the Internet in education and commerce, it differs from other media like TV and cable because parents cannot prevent their children from using the Internet altogether,” Sen. Stevens said. “The headlines continue to tell us of children who are victimized online. While the issues are difficult, I believe Congress has an important role to play to ensure that the protections available in other parts of our society find their way to the Internet.
Comments(22)
Booo… 1 step closer to censoring unwanted sites such as ones that help users share files…
will be interesting to see what they come up with, and how we will get around it, and future hackers of America, lol.
Too bad if it becomes huge you will never be able to surf anywhere except your pc the same way… since work and schools would definitely have the programs installed.
hahahaha what a load of shit! kids are still gonna find ways to get porn, no matter what! i hope somebody murders this thing… it’s just gay.
this is the craziest thing ive heard in my life…how will we get uncencored news…we just becoming government puppets if the tell us evrything they want us to know and nothing we want to know this is load of shit…im oging to protest against this big time….not only because now we can’t get free porn and share files lol…but because the are directly contemplating the 1rst ammendment….this is a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!freedom of speech
One more step towards the emulation of China. They don’t have to conquer us. Our governmental philosophies will just merge and all us little folks in both countries will become one big pool of uninformed coolies to be exploited by our corporate/government masters.
By the way, unfortunately Mark Pryor is not a democrat from Alaska (D-AK) as noted. He is (supposedly) a democrat from Arkansas (that’s “D-AR”.) I say “supposedly” a democrat because a look at his voting record would show him solidly with Big Brother Bush. The reason I think it is unfortunate that he isn’t from Alaska is because I am from Arkansas and have to put up with his holier-than-conservative-republicanism all the time.
That’s what happens when you vote Democrats into Congress. Let the cruel and bloody reign of Hilary begin!
No way this going to keep kids from doing what they want… provided they make the effort to obtain the necessary information to circumvent the program. This is just another ploy to drum up issues for election time.
This is just stupid
Hackers can and will bypass any secure if they like. Kids should not be surfing the net them selfs any ways. This is the first step to filter all the net. But will fail again.
You idiots. Can’t any of you possible comprehend what you just read? “Indecent and objectionable programming, as determined by the parent” Basically it’s a “v-chip” that a parent can use to filter their kids internet.
Some of us in this country have morals and WANT parents to have a censorship OPTION, not mandatory (not communism, gar you dumbshit).
Blobsters,you can hardly blame them. The description of the bill states “A bill to develop the next generation of parental control technology.”, while our most objective topic starter over there called it an “Internet filtering law”. Hmm, I wonder where all this outrage originated from…
Fucking, brain dead, Americans!
They have no authority over the Internet, yet think they can decide what is and is not available.
It’s about time that all websites even partially concerned with freedom of expression blocked America from accessing their services… see how they feel when all the yanks can access online, is their own small corner.
Put America behind a firewall, just the same as China is!
Fuck this.
There are hundreds of ways that a parent can censor the internet for their children, all widly available and many very effective. Their is no reason the government has to step in, and i believe these people who are freaing out about censorship our in a way right. IT is the first stepof the government to censor the net for all, thit says the government is requireing the fcc to do this , it’s my bet the fcc probably lobeied for this bill so they could create more in depth software to censor overall, Imagine if there ios a switch to shut things off that’s used for children what stops the government from switching this for everyone, once it exists.
To Blobsters:
Name calling is the act of someone who doesn’t have enough intelligence to engage in a meaningful dialog.
I would wish you a great life flipping burgers Buddy but obviously you aren’t smart enough to fill out the application.
DoubleJ: Exactly. No matter what OS or Internet connection method you are using there are filtering proxies (some of them free) and filtering software that will do this without some bullshit law. I love how this never came up in the media until after it had been approved. Government communication with it’s people is at an all time low. The US government need to *censored* and start *censored*.
The funniest thing is that all these law makers and congressmen/women have or had sex in their life. Most of them even have, in the privacy of their home, some sort of sexual fantasy, fetish, or “abnormal” desire that nobody knows about until it comes public by mistake.
And they want to hunt down on the people who do it openly.
Talk about a sexually repressed society
Here’s a thought if they are so worried about their children going onto inapopropriate websites. How about their parents actually monitor their web activity by BEING THERE. For once, let’s make parents accountable for their children, rather than have them complain because they can’t be bothered to get involoved in bringing their kids up properly!
Well said, VirginiaCavalry.
they’re being too “protective.”
If kids want to look at something, they will find out how.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
NEXT TIME WE’RE GONNA SEE PLAYBOY CENSORED .. FUCKING NIGGER POLITICS
Fuck kids, for God sakes, why does every single thing in this country have to revolve around kids. Is it so hard to be there with your children when they are online, or subscribe to a proxy that filters out sites for you. And why is it that kids need internet access at all. I am not arguing for limiting kids by not giving them any access at all, but if you do not want them to be exposed, don’t let them on the net.
In any case, legally, the government has no right to limit internet access and they should stop sticking there grubby little hands into it. It’s privet enterprise, and it should be left alone.
As far as morals that some one mentioned few posts above, fuck morals up the ass with a broken glass. This country is not based about morals, it’s based on greed, perversion, slaughter of native population, and slavery. And it’s why I love it. BTW, you can hate bush all you want, but this bill has Hillary written all over it.
– Bogdan
The powers to be dont like a global platform where you can freely express your thoughts. The have never been one before internet and I strongly doubt that there will be after the internet is censored.
In my country the government passed a law that they can filter internet if suspect kiddyp0rn content. That of course gives other possibilities to censor everythin the government doesnt like. For example in Sweden they tried to shut TPB down with that kiddyp0rn law and there will similar attemps in the future too.
So the western states are own their way to the honorable companion of SaudiArabia, Iran and China etc.
The free internet is just seen as a threat to the governments all around the world and that is why they want it to be filtered. Ped0files know how to use computer so they can very easily go around these filters. The main aim is to suffocate the anonymous expression on critic to goverments because they dont like it. Its also a good way to sabotage small anti-government parties and even for example cannab1s activists.
Orwell was right…
For heavens sake, why does the Government worry so much about what kids look at? If anything the government should promote children to look at dirty things…Well maybe not, but looking at your first “porn site” isn’t harmful. When i saw mine when i was ten or whatever i didn’t start hiring prostitutes and smoking crack. If we deny our kids the experiences that will harm them then they’ll grow up naive and stupid. This is just another thing that will end up costing a shitload of tax money that will become obsolete very, very quickly.