Senate Considers Mandatory Web Labeling Bill

Washington, D.C.--A new bill put forward by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) would require commercial web-site operators who feature sexually explicit material to place government mandated warning labels on their sites. Non-compliance would result in prison terms of up to 15 years.

Called the Stop Adults' Facilitation of the Exploitation of Youth Act, or Internet SAFETY Act, the bill is being touted as a new weapon in the war on child pornography.

"The increase in Internet use has given sexual predators new ways to prey on children," Kyl said. "This bill, among other things, is intended to shut down these opportunities, and severely punish the degraded individuals who are involved in the sexual exploitation of our youth."

In a nutshell, the bill would force commercial web operators to place "clearly identifiable marks and notices" on their web pages to alert viewers of "sexually explicit" content. The bill would also make a new crime out of "using misleading domain names to direct children to harmful material on the Internet."

Under current federal law "sexually explicit" material includes any depiction of sexual intercourse, bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area.

The Supreme Court has ruled (U.S. v. Knox) that the "lascivious exhibition" of the crotch could include someone wearing a bikini, leotards or underwear. According to Anne Broache of News.com, that would mean "that photos of people in leotards and bathing suits would have to be rated as sexually explicit if the commercial web site owner wanted to avoid going to prison."

Well, there goes my hopes for starting TotallyInnocentLeotardShots.com.

I jest, but critics of the bill say the vague language of the Act and its harsh penalties would be a serious danger to free speech.

"Whether artistic works or political commentary or any type of images that may arguably come close to this category, people may not publish them for fear of being sent to jail for 15 years," said David Greene, director of The First Amendment Project.

If you would like to contact Sen. Kyl, go to his link above. He only answers emails from Arizona constituents, but we should all send him a nasty note anyway.