According to ArsTechnica, the just passed Internet SAFETY (Stop Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Youth) act includes provisions for prison sentences to people who deceptively link to p0rn. So anyone who links to p0rn and attempts to pass it off as other legitimate web link can be penalized by this new law. So anyone who accidentally find p0rn online could possibly get the link provider in trouble. This doesn’t worry be, as I neither link to p0rn nor get to it accidentally – I get all my p0rn from quality sites, so I have to actively seek it out.
The bill deals mostly with sex offenders, though it also includes provisions for stopping the sale of the “date rape” drug and boosting the National Police Athletic League. For our purposes, the end of the legislation is the most interesting. Section 703 deals with “deception by embedded words or images,” and rehashes the idea found in the Internet SAFETY Act.
(a) In General- Whoever knowingly embeds words or digital images into the source code of a website with the intent to deceive a person into viewing material constituting obscenity shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 10 years.
(b) Minors- Whoever knowingly embeds words or digital images into the source code of a website with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material harmful to minors on the Internet shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 20 years.
The bill purposely leaves the provisions vague. What constitutes “deceit,” for instance? The law is worded loosely enough to allow prosecutors to use their discretion, and remains broad enough to deal with future changes in technology that might render a more specific bill obsolete.
Though the bill obviously applies only in the US, the government has recently shown a willingness to go after foreigners who operate web sites that are largely used by Americans.
[tags]Internet SAFETY Act, Online pr0n[/tags]