Language in a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson and a bipartisan congressional group, aimed at protecting children from online child predators, has changed recently and no longer includes requirements that Internet-related businesses monitor customers’ web sites.

The proposed bill, called of the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act of 2007, appears designed to take aim at operations such as MySpace, a self-described “social networking service” owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which targets teens and has, through numerous news stories gained a reputation as a stalking ground for pedophiles.

A “discussion draft” Senate version of the bill originally indicated MySpace or similar services that provide free web sites would have to check their customers against a list of registered sex offenders and remove sites identified as belonging to people on that list.

However, a newer version of the SAFE Act of 2007, identical in both the House and Senate, removed that language. The change makes the passage consistent with another passage in the bill that states no Internet service provider or web service would be required to “monitor any user, subscriber or customer of that provider” or “affirmatively seek facts or circumstances” of suspected child pornography.

But the bill does require that a wide range of Internet-related businesses that “obtain actual knowledge of any facts or circumstances” that appear related to child pornography or exploitation be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Businesses required to do so are those “engaged in providing an
electronic communication service or a remote computing service
to the public through a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce.” That definition conceivably applies to social networking sites such as MySpace, and also to Internet service providers, blogs, sites such as FortBendNow and any business offering web sites or operating web sites that accept comments.

Failure by any such business to report suspected child pornography activity could result in a fine of up to $300,000, according to the proposed bill.

Joining Lampson in sponsoring the SAFE Act of 2007 is U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The proposed bill, called of the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act of 2007, appears designed to take aim at operations such as MySpace, a self-described “social networking service” owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which targets teens and has, through numerous news stories gained a reputation as a stalking ground for pedophiles.

A “discussion draft” Senate version of the bill originally indicated MySpace or similar services that provide free web sites would have to check their customers against a list of registered sex offenders and remove sites identified as belonging to people on that list.

However, a newer version of the SAFE Act of 2007, identical in both the House and Senate, removed that language.