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House passes bill to restrict access to "social websites"

Posted by aubin on Friday, July 28, 2006 at 5:30 PM (EDT)

The US House of Representatives today passed a bill to restrict access to "social networking" sites in public locations such as libraries and schools. Originally proposed this past May as hysteria grew about the number of sexual predators allegedly using Myspace, the bill went through by 410 votes to 15.

The bill is broadly worded specifically restricts any "commercial website" that allows people to post profiles, include personal information and allow "communication among users." Of course, the bill does not stipulate what "communication among users" actually means, with the definition to be decided by the FCC.

The result is that the bill could affect everyone from Blogger to Slashdot and Amazon; even Punknews.org. While a recent Wired piece disputes the charges against Myspace using crime statistics, the bill has nontheless passed with an overwhelming majority.

In completely unrelated news, Congress faces midterm elections in November.

Games and Technology (144 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Seriously.

R3venge_Therapy (July 28, 2006)

Oh noes teh peepl cannot access teh myspace in publik omg!!11!!!!1!

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

i don't have the energy to look at this issue enough to pick a side. especially since i couldn't care less.

7+ Replies

the_other_scott (July 28, 2006)

jesus you ar eso fucking apathetic and indifferent about everything. except pulley. you seem to like those guys.

Razor_Crusade (July 28, 2006)

Because Pulley is pretty fucking awesome

Someone (July 28, 2006)

I concur. I also think we need more Pulley. Record. Now!!!

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

hell yea!!

you hear that Radinsky? three people are all about it.

shanholtzer (July 29, 2006)

Yes!

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

i find that apathy keeps me happy.

but seriously, i can't see how this bill will ever effect me, so i'm just meh about it.

without really knwoing all i should, i would hae to say that it generally seems pretty goddamn stupid and useless. like i said down there, legislating things on the interwebs is about as effective as legistation against drugs...and we all know how swimingly well that's going.

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

i feel the same way about apathy. back when i was 16 years old i would get pissed off and worked up and depressed about every issue. then i looked at my life and realized most of that shit didn't affect me at all. so i said 'fuck it' and never looked back.

the one thing i do care about is drug laws. that shit has been kicking me in the ass lately. i can't wait to get out of this stupid fucking cuntry and into amsterdam.

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

it sounds so lazy, but taht's not really waht it's about, it's more of knowing that the machine will keep churning until peoples perceptions are changed. fighting against most issues is somewhat pointless. what we need is a truly new way of social thinking, realizing what things really are problem and what laws are antiquated at this point. drug laws in prticular. but until everyone is on the same page, nothing will change.

i have hope that when our generation is running this country, things will start to change. a revolution has been badly needed for decades now.

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

fuck man, that 'h' to 'a' keystoke has really been fucking with me lately.

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

exactly. thats what i hate about hippies. those stupid fuckers think protesting with signs and shit outside buildings will change something. it won't change shit. the machine is too strong.

now a mass riot, that might work.

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

sometimes i think you have so much potential... then other times....

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

those are probably the times i'm wasted.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

i have hope that when our generation is running this country, things will start to change. a revolution has been badly needed for decades now.

I'm pretty sure every generation's probably said that.

AlmostPunkEnough (July 29, 2006)

i know. it still makes me feel better to think so.

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

You disgust me.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

More people should follow your example, young man!

Someone (July 28, 2006)

hahah

plaidical (July 31, 2006)

best joke name evr

Someone (July 28, 2006)

and yet you somehow cared enough to post how much you don't care

colin (July 28, 2006)

this bill honestly is probably good for the reason that it'll get the kids away from myspace during times they could be hanging out with friends that aren't imaginary.

however it's a really, really bad step towards destroying net neutrality and allowing the telecoms to control the internet and how it works.

so i wish the government would keep its hands off something that doesn't even belong to the usa. thanks.

15+ Replies

AlmostPunkEnough (July 28, 2006)

again i think it comes down to trying to legislate away something that people really wanna do. it just never works. seems like a waste of time.

iconoclast (July 28, 2006)

i agree with all the points you made sir colin.

___waltz (July 28, 2006)

a bill like this isn't going to stop very many kids, especially with websites like peacefire.org out there.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Exactly. The current attempt at controlling the internet is just ridiculous.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

We don't want to control it. All we want to do is make sure that we approve of its content. Big difference!

Aubin (July 28, 2006)

If it was just MySpace it'd be a problem, but not horrific, what it is now is basically a ban on everything from Wikipedia to Gmail. All of these things allow profiles and communications.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Yeahhhhhh... There is a buttload of problems with all of this.

I want more private schools... I don't want the federal government to control in anyway content in local public schoosl, but I want the local public schools to be able to censor whatever they want as long as the government makes private schools a more viable option for parents.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

That's a horrible "solution."

colin (July 28, 2006)

which is lame, because without wikipeida and gmail i would have nothing to do at work. i mean, i could work, but there's no fun in that.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

You could always enroll to the military! Here's a bit of an insiders tip: if you do join, you will have work for at least 20 years. Trust us, we know.

Bryne (July 28, 2006)

This is a much better joke account than that Propadummy character. Kudos.

Bryne (July 28, 2006)

This is a much better joke account than that Propadummy character. Kudos.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Do you really think that will happen? While I agree that that would horrible, the chance seems remote. This is a plea for the middle class "think of our children" vote, which will probably make it hard to "blog," but sites that don't encourage or even support private solicitation, such as this, are probably safe.

-William

Someone (July 28, 2006)

well Al Gore did invent the internet, so maybe it is ours. haha

capitalist_pig (July 28, 2006)

How is it a "step towards destroying net neutrality and allowing the telecoms to control the internet and how it works"?.

All the bill says is that public institutions (primarily schools and libraries) have to block kids' access to myspace, etc. Adults can still use these sites, as can children in the privacy of their own homes, in an internet cafe, etc., pretty much any place that is not owned by the government.

That being said, I think it is a terrible law. I think it is wrong for the government to restrict anyone's access to information no matter what the age. Studies show that blocking myspace in libraries will do nothing to reduce crimes committed against children, but of course the reps. all voted for this bill and the 10 or 15 who didn't will have to spend most of their next campaign debunking their opponents claims that "Representative Soandso

show rest of comment

colin (July 28, 2006)

it's a step that way because the govrenment thinks they'll be able to regulate the internet. they only can do so with the help of the telecom industry. so, if this passes and the gov't realizes they can bow to the telecoms wishes and then get freedom to control hte internet...etc.

sorry im kinda durnk.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

The government

allison_le_gnome (July 29, 2006)

WTF, there was more to this post than that, but I can't remember what it was.

capitalist_pig (July 29, 2006)

I would continue to argue my point, but I'm kinda drunk as well, so I guess we'll just agree to disagree. Or maybe we're agreeing. I don't even remember.

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

the internet is a series of tubes.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

EXACTLY.

So. Fucking. Ridiculous.

There were about a million things wrong with that metaphor, ranging from the technical details to "it's fucking stupid."

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 29, 2006)

what about youtube?

dpotts (July 29, 2006)

The best part of that speech was him talking about his staff sending him an "Internet" (email) that ot lost for 5 days before getting to him.

dpotts (July 29, 2006)

*that got lost

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

In completely unrelated news, Congress faces midterm elections in November.

Hahaha. Totally.

And this law is ridiculous, the words they use are so lax. You need to create a profile to access a lot of newspapers sites. Hell, wouldn't sites like Yahoo or Msn be shut down too?

7+ Replies

jumptheshark (July 28, 2006)

I loved that last line too. I will be so pissed if this means I can't come and waste away my studyhalls here on punknews once school starts again.

Hell, I'll be pissed and raise hell if it means I can't go read online newspapers. Such bullshit, yeah stuff like myspace should be blocked from schools, but news sites where that news can be discussed...fuck that isn't debate and discussion of events something schools should be encouraging? Granted I know most kids wouldn't be using the stuff to discuss issues, but come on.

iconoclast (July 28, 2006)

I will be so pissed if this means I can't come and waste away my studyhalls here on punknews once school starts again.

yea, that would be a total bummer.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

In case you haven't gotten the hint already, we are trying to disencourage the discussion of issues.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Punknews is blocked the fuck out at my school already.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Speaking of November, VOTE FOR US!

Someone (July 28, 2006)

lame

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

I guess. My school already has everything blocked, but Gmail isn't (yet). I use it to send myself things I'm working on so that I can work on the same thing at school and at home. That sounds pretty legit to me.

Shindo (adam) (July 28, 2006)

*cough* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic

-adam

4+ Replies

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

So how long until someone starts a band called Moral Panic? (If there isn't one already)

dev (July 28, 2006)

Already been one. I doubt they're still around though...

iconoclast (July 28, 2006)

god i love wikipedia.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Love it while you can, because we are working on bill right now that will outlaw Man-Websites marriage.

Archangel (July 28, 2006)

Hahahaha

HeresLookinAtYou (July 28, 2006)

Yay Congress!

yah retahded!

3+ Replies

JustLikeDelilah (July 28, 2006)

carlos mencia isnt funny.

deathbyguitar (July 28, 2006)

agreed

JustLikeDelilah (July 28, 2006)

pwned.

___waltz (July 28, 2006)

I wrote my final paper for my english class on this topic.

3+ Replies

Someone (July 28, 2006)

how does this deal with literature?

Mayeb you should ahve wrote your alst english essay on the decline of educational standards that allow douches to write on social issues not pertaining to any literature that relfects life.

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

Yeah, learning how to write an argumentative essay in an english class is totally out of place!

Ike_Ness (July 29, 2006)

Actually you fucking cunt, most "English" classes refer to Rhetoric, while "Literature" classes refer to *gasp* Literature.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

There are a large number of websites that allow "communication among users" in at least some fashion- blog comments, Wikipedia talk pages, news sites that allow comments, etc. There's no way that they could really block every one of those things.

Then again, I know my school at least is really strict about blocking anything they can- they walk around to see what sites kids are visiting, then go and block them. I wouldn't put it past them to try something like this.

Basically, this is just fucking stupid. It's not nearly as bad as No Child Left Behind in its realistic impact, at least.

And what about people who can't afford computers and internet? There goes library computers.

There have been so many ridiculous, pointless pieces of legislature lately just because of the stupid midterm elections.

3+ Replies

___waltz (July 28, 2006)

hey, at least it probably won't get through the senate.

Aubin (July 28, 2006)

The "tubes" and "dumptrucks" Senate? It just might.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

MySpace is the tube that carries the sewage of the internet. And right now, that sewage is leaking into the tube that carries the crystal clear lake water that is our schools. We must fix the leak and purify our schools once again, with the help of Jesus!

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Okay, you're about 1:3 on the funny:shit ratio right now. That had better improve, or this will just be plain annoying.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Actually... I'll give you 50/50, or maybe even 3:2.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Exactly. Between ignorance, stupidity, and lobbyists, who knows how crazy shit can get?

The sad thing is, I think he really believes that the internet works that way- he's not just been bribed by lobbyists to make ridiculous metaphors. My favorite line was "an internet [sic] was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday." I think it really shows the complete level of ignorance involved there.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Those bastards ain't going to stop us now! Our quest for internet-dominion has started and no one can stop us!

deathbyguitar (July 28, 2006)

please, please eat my fuck

mcgregor107 (July 28, 2006)

i see a lady bug.. hello lady-lady bug!

2+ Replies

mcgregor107 (July 28, 2006)

and by lady i mean laddie..

mcgregor107 (July 28, 2006)

..or do i?

Someone (July 28, 2006)

insert liberal conspiracy theory

1+ Reply

colin (July 28, 2006)

insert trite comment with no relevance

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

Looks like CONgress really is the opposite of PROgress

1+ Reply

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

whoa dude, you totally just blew my mind maaan!

Dante3000 (rich) (July 28, 2006)

How am I going to sexually assualt kids on myspace now?
DAMN YOU CONGRESS!
-Dante

2+ Replies

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

I guess it's time to bring out the clown suit and the ice-cream truck, and do it the old fashioned way.

Dante3000 (rich) (July 28, 2006)

Dude, have you any idea how much work that is?
I, for one, am just going to hang outside junior high volleyball games with a 12 pack.
It's like flys to a bug zapper.
-Dante

Someone (July 28, 2006)

reading those comments made me laugh harder then i ever have at PN, no joke.

k-dubs (July 28, 2006)

thats almost as crazy as a former member of lifetime being caught with body parts in her house!

1+ Reply

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

You should be thankful we outlawed the possesion of body parts years ago, or else that witch would have gotten away with it.

It's a shame that those damng Geneva conventions outlawed burning at the stake though.

k-dubs (July 28, 2006)

this bill was really passed for greg graffin.

1+ Reply

deathbyguitar (July 28, 2006)

yes, haha, big time burn. but now he'll be "bored and extremely dangerous"

so isn't that worse?

iconoclast (July 28, 2006)

there have been some pretty big stories as of late.

miniblindbandit (July 28, 2006)

Completely unrelated but I was thinking about the bill passed earlier this year about how it's now a federal crime to annoy or threaten someone anonymously over the internet. Then I thought about how much this has happened on this site alone and laugh.

3+ Replies

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

I think i know which bill you are talking about. It didn't make online threatening a federal crime, just immoral.

We are working on it though!

miniblindbandit (July 28, 2006)

Actually it is a crime. You should study up on your own bills Mr. HOR.

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Buddy, i'll let you on a little secret...

We don't actually read the stuff we sign unless it will make an interesting soundbite on Fox News.

miniblindbandit (July 28, 2006)

ha ha nice

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

To be fair, that was a (very) badly worded measure meant to prevent, like, death threats.

chickswithdicks (July 28, 2006)

even though i don't care that much because i'm in Canada (sorry 'mericans), i don't think it's that bad of an idea to work from. within schools i totally understand, and to a lesser extent i understand the library ban (if you're waiting to do something more useful than myspace on a public computer it can be annoying).

1+ Reply

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

So something should be illegal just because you don't want to wait for someone to do it?

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

MySpace is the greatest threat to this nation since those damn communist spies in the 50's!

2+ Replies

Someone (July 28, 2006)

don't forget the hypocrital liberals, who are destroying are nation with no end in sight.

SalsaShark (July 28, 2006)

Don't forget Carrot Top.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

or that damn harry potter!

Someone (July 28, 2006)

myspace was already banned at my high school, but we found a way around it, it was really simple.
punknews wasnt though.

3+ Replies

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Enjoy your success while you can. We'll see if you are so smug once Bolivar Trask is done building those anti-MySpace Sentinels he has been working on.

Archangel (July 28, 2006)

Hahaha oh my God what a reference.

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Most proxies are shit, and a lot of them are blocked too. The Google translate English-English hole doesn't even seem to be working anymore.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=157733 hahahahaha points for NOFX.

1+ Reply

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

hahaha. fat mike, you've done it again!

jamespastepunk (July 28, 2006)

In completely unrelated news, Congress faces midterm elections in November.

You win at life.

1+ Reply

allison_le_gnome (July 28, 2006)

Haha, yeah.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

This will most likely not effect Punknews... This site doesn't allow users to privately solicit each other.

I am all for making it harder for perverts to solicit people, though. As a 17/18 year old, I didn't care when creepy old dudes asked me to come over to their house just because I was marked "single" on Myspace, but what the hell is a 13-14 year old supposed to think? I think I might have been genuinely creeped out.

-WilliamMarinovic

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Sexual predators may use things like MySpace, but limiting MySpace isn't going to stop sexual crimes against children. That's like banning playgrounds because children are there and predators may go there. The reason this passed is because it's called the Deleting Online Predators Act and no one wants to look like they voting against a bill that's against predators. It looks like only 15 people in Congress have enough backbone to stand up to a completely useless law. Look at these quotes I found from two different Congressmen:

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) said the bill, "Makes good press releases, but it won't save one single child from one single incident. This will not solve the problem."

"Like a lot of my colleagues, I'm going to hold my nose and vote for a bill that does nothing," Rep. John Dingell (R-Mich.) said.

1+ Reply

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

banning playgrounds because children are there and predators may go there

We like how you think! Have you considered a career in politics?

hitlerbadzakgood (July 28, 2006)

go to an internet cafe. your town probably has one, and there no reason to spend more than 15 minutes a day on the internet unless youre in college.

2+ Replies

kingofsuck (July 28, 2006)

Or a college dropout who spends way too much time posting on punknews.org...

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

As soon as you find me an internet cafe that lets me use computers and internet for free...

burningfeeetman (July 28, 2006)

Aubin is such a fucking joker lately. I love it.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Glad i'm not american

3+ Replies

AmericaRules (July 28, 2006)

I'm glad you aren't American too.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

2-0 Canada

House_of_Representatives (July 28, 2006)

Don't worry, we'll invade your country and you'll be bound by our rules.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

***Yea, this bill ! !***

I have no objection to MySpace per se,

...but I understand the need to limit its use in public libraries--just as online gambling, video games, and porn ought not be wasting away library resources, when the internet in libraries should be used for...

I don't know--

a wild concept here--

hmmm....RESEARCH PURPOSES!

Every now and then, my friends' and cousins' kids gotta go to libraries and when they see stupid, creepy old perv shits using library computers to thoroughly investigate the lesbian and erotic sections of craigslist--

--sitting there...

--hours on end...

--only to get up about 90 minutes later--

--to finish their business in the restroom...

well, I can't feel anything but...

...disgusted and pissed.

show rest of comment

1+ Reply

el_matt (July 28, 2006)

Some social sites are legitimate sources of research. The wording they are using could ban sites like Wikipedia, Sparknotes and newspapers sites.

Matt-A-Tat-Tat (July 28, 2006)

wait...don't you hear that...seriously dude, what the hell is that???

oh, it's only the thought police...

Lets hear it for living in a gestapo police state!!!

1+ Reply

Someone (July 28, 2006)

No, it's not, Ralph Nader.

Go surf for 13 year old dates, at home, dude.

Cruz Bustamante
Lieutenant Governor
State of California

jockmcbored (July 28, 2006)

only wufters use this site

fritobandito (July 28, 2006)

haha. last line gave me a chortle.

this is ridiculous though.

fritobandito (July 28, 2006)

haha. last line gave me a chortle.

this is ridiculous though.

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

In completely unrelated news, Congress faces midterm elections in November.

fucking aubin, this is why i have so much respect for you you tongue in cheek motherfucker. hahaha

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Hahaha, nice little comment at the end, aubin. Nice.

iconoclast (July 28, 2006)

does absolutepunk and PNdotO post the same stories?

somegirl (July 28, 2006)

Although this does seen troubling in theory (in practice I really couldn't give a rat's ass what happens to MySpace), I really can't see the bill going anywhere. It just seems like one of those issues everyone feels strongly about for two weeks before the next "issue" sensasionalized(sp?) by the media comes up, distracting everyone from events that actually do have an impact on a majority of Americans.

1+ Reply

FuckYouOiOiOi (July 28, 2006)

exactly. so how do you feel about gay marraige?

Someone (July 28, 2006)

myspace hates our american freedom.

Someone (July 28, 2006)

Booooooooooooo

The4footpartysub (July 28, 2006)

aw man i guess i can't check the myspace in school anymore... damn, lol.

SkolarX (July 28, 2006)

and so it begins...

Someone (July 29, 2006)

this isn't fucking china you guys

allison_le_gnome (July 29, 2006)

I burned my finger on a hot glue gun today. Scrolling down the comments for this story is becoming sort of painful.

(I was gluing "dream rooms" together for girls in an interior design camp that is for some reason held at the science museum, I guess because of the minor math involved.)

Someone (July 29, 2006)

NEWS FLASH!!!!!

nobody cares about your myspace page.

1+ Reply

The4footpartysub (July 29, 2006)

haha, exactly.

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