Senators from across the aisle, Republican John McCain and Democrat Chuck Schumer, have put forth the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act of 2007, or the Safe Act of 2007, which will be introduced formally on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
McCain said the bill is meant to "enhance the current system for Internet service providers to report online child pornography on their systems, making the failure to report child pornography a federal crime," as reported by CNET.
However, the Safe Act now makes ISPs or any "service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire of electronic communications" apparent watchdogs over information that flows through their online systems. If passed, this law could have a chilling effect on free speech on the Internet.
Presently, federal law already requires ISPs to report any sightings of child pornography or suffer fines of up to $300,000.
The Safe Act of 2007 sets up a scheme on how to process and report online child pornography: ISPs must have "actual knowledge" of illegal images and make an in-depth report that includes the time, date, offending content, any personal information about the user, and his or her IP address—information which then is reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Once the NCMEC receives the material, it is supposed to compile the information and send it back to the ISPs, which then create a unique digital fingerprint of the offender based on the facts. The NCMEC receives the information before it makes its way to local or federal police.
If the offender used the "Internet to commit the violation," he or she then will be given an extra 10 years in prison in addition to other mandated jail time.
CNET reports that the list of offenses that must be reported includes child exploitation, selling a minor for sexual purposes, and using "misleading" domain names to trick someone into viewing illegal material. It also covers obscene images of minors, including ones in a "drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting." (Language reports that it is not necessary "that the minor depicted actually exist.")
"The proposed bill imposes an added level of bureaucracy that would prove burdensome to webmasters and Internet service providers," notes Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition. "Compound that with criminal penalties, and you have a bill that is troublesome on all levels. Federal law already requires Internet service providers to report child pornography sightings. This bill is unfounded and unnecessary."
A particularly chilling effect about the offenses listed in the Safe Act is the fictional "drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting" portion of the act, which could leave many webmasters wondering if emailed, non-pornographic content, such as a drawing of a nude child in medical text, could be considered child pornography.
Rick Louis, manager of communications and government affairs for the Association of Sites Advocating Children Protection, was less worried about the content of the bill as it relates to ISPs. "There are reporting mechanisms in place, [including ASACP's online Children Pornography reporting hot line), but there are still plenty of countries which either have no laws against child pornography, or don't enforce existing laws," Louis said. "So, even when there is effective reporting and investigation, the people who produce and profit from child pornography often remain out of reach."
