Utah Gets New Internet Pornography Law - 5,634 Views, 4 Comments
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Utah Governor Jim Huntsman has signed a new Internet pornography law into effect which requires Utah ISPs and other service providers to block pornographic websites upon a user’s request. And just to make sure that no service provider has to do the old “I’ll know it when I see it” routine, the law also mandates the creation of a list of pornography websites deemed to be covered by the new anti-pornography law. Service providers which fail to disable access to pornography sites on the list, following a user’s request, can be subject to felony charges. The new Internet pornography law says, specifically, “Upon request by a consumer, a service provider may not transmit material from a content provider site listed on the adult content registry” where “service provider” includes any person or organization which “provides an Internet access service to a consumer”. Commentators are concerned about the vagueness of the law, and point out that the definition of “provider” is so broad that it could cover just about anything, including private homes with unencrypted wifi access points. In addition, under the new law content providers can be required by the Utah state attorney general to provide a rating for any content deemed “harmful to minors” by the Utah AG. The law defines content provider as any site which “creates, collects, acquires or organizes electronic data” for commercial purposes. According to a communication from NetCoalition, an organization which represents such industry giants as Google and Yahoo, “A search engine that links to a Web site in Utah might be required…to ‘properly rate’ the Web site.” Of course, it’s entirely possible (some even say likely) that the law will be struck down as unconstitutional. But in the meantime, be careful what you do in Utah. At least on the Internet.
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Wow! Great! Awesome! So much for parenting I guess. Will they have laws to cover IRC chat, Instant Messaging, New Servers and the like sometime soon? We need to encourage parents to parent!
Comment by Woody — 3/22/2005 @ 3:22 pm
Actually this plan has nothing to do with internet pornography, rather it’s a law designed to lower the unemployment rate in Utah. It must be, can you imagine the work involved in maintaining an up to date “adult content registry” that is effective enough to be worthwhile? Because it seems they are not talking about a register of keywords / bayesian filter data etc, but a register of actual websites.
But seriously:
If they want to do this wouldn’t it be more efficient to require ISP’s to provide adult filtering upon request, but instead provide ISP’s a subsidy/tax rebate for the purchase of suitable commercial server based filtering software.
Comment by ZacOz — 3/23/2005 @ 4:55 am
Finally!!! They’ve needed to regulate porn for too long. I hope a bill like this is passed in every state. Although it should be a little more strict in my opinion. They are going to need a way to govern these sites. Unfortunately we won’t be getting wankers out there like woody (first commenter) to help. He is obviously not a parent. So Im all up for doing my job as a parent and doing whatever I can to limit these sites. Even if it is to go so far as to slap some sense into retards like him. Who cares about employment! I’d do it for free!!!
Comment by BanPorn — 6/2/2007 @ 9:16 am
Jesus… any one have even a shred of a clue as to how many sites that would be?
Comment by J — 3/30/2009 @ 3:11 pm