LawMeme LawMeme Yale Law School  
LawMeme
Search LawMeme [ Advanced Search ]
 
 
 
 
''Global Internet Freedom Act'' Compromised by Glaring Loophole
Posted by Ernest Miller on Thursday, October 03 @ 12:39:01 EDT Free Expression
WIRED reports that Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) has introduced a bill that would establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom to foster development of censorship-busting technology for users in countries including China and Saudi Arabia (Fighting Net Censorship Abroad). The House bill, HR 5524, is co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). Text of the bill can be found on the webpage of the House Policy Committee which Cox chairs (Global Internet Freedom Act [PDF]). Read the press release (Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Stops Internet Jamming). Read the policy statement (Tear Down This Firewall). The Senate is expected to introduce its own version of the bill soon, sponsored by John Kyl (R-AZ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Sounds good, right? Read on for the glaring loophole that turns this bill into $100,000,000.00 pork:

(e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY. - Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to authorize any action by the United States to interfere with foreign national censorship for the purpose of protecting minors from harm, preserving public morality, or assisting with law enforcement aims.
I have news for the Congressman. It is really, really difficult to distinguish between issues of "public morality" and political dissent in repressive regimes. Ask Saudi Arabia (where the moral and political are the same thing) and China (which frequently justifies its censorship on the basis of "public morality"). It is even harder (i.e., impossible) for anti-censorship technology to distinguish between "public morality" and political dissent, so what sort of technology does this law permit the US to develop? My guess would be, "None." Looks good in press releases though.

And don't get me started on "legitimate law enforcement aims" or protecting the children.

 
Login
Nickname

Password

Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
Related Links
· WIRED
· Chris Cox
· Fighting Net Censorship Abroad
· Tom Lantos
· House Policy Committee
· Global Internet Freedom Act
· Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Stops Internet Jamming
· Tear Down This Firewall
· John Kyl
· Ron Wyden
· protecting the children
· More about Free Expression
· News by Ernest Miller


Most read story about Free Expression:
The Future of Virtual Kiddie Pr0n and Other Notes on Ashcroft v. Free Speech

Article Rating
Average Score: 5
Votes: 1


Please take a second and vote for this article:

Bad
Regular
Good
Very Good
Excellent


Options

Printer Friendly Page  Printer Friendly Page

Send to a Friend  Send to a Friend
"User's Login" | Login/Create an Account | 0 comments
Threshold
  
The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.

Leges humanae nascuntur, vivunt, moriuntur
Human laws are born, live, and die


All stories, comments and submissions copyright their respective posters.
Everything Else Copyright (c) 2002 by the Information Society Project.
This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).

You can syndicate our news using the file backend.php