New Bill May Restrict Minors from Accessing Certian Web Sites on Public Terminals
July 28th, 2006
Posted by: Theo NicolakisThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that has the potential to restrict access to sites such as MySpace.com and Amazon.com from public access terminals. Public access terminals is the common name used to refer to computers commonly available to the such as those in a public school or library. The new bill aims to restrict minors from accessing “chat rooms” and “social networking sites” from public terminals.
These types of sites have recently been the topic of much discussion since predators have used these sites as vehicles for preying upon young children.
The big question about this bill is what sites will be restricted because the language is broad. Indeed, some fear that sites such as Amazon.com may fall under this restriction.
Some of the language of the bill is below:
“In determining the definition of a social networking Web site, the Commission shall take into consideration the extent to which a Web site–
(i) is offered by a commercial entity;
(ii) permits registered users to create an online profile that includes detailed personal information;
(iii) permits registered users to create an online journal and share such a journal with other users;
(iv) elicits highly personalized information from users; and
(v) enables communication among users.”
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