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236 Comments
- postaboy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+70Final tally of votes in favor of the bill:
R 226 Y 0 N
D 183 Y 15 N
It's so easy to blame Bush for everything but definitely not this. - zirtbow, on 10/12/2007, -8/+66Guys.. don't worry..
Its for the children. - rompom7, on 10/12/2007, -14/+67Do you even know what communism is?
- fooplex, on 10/12/2007, -8/+58Just because it's a stupid idea doesn't make it "fascist" or "communist". Learn history, then learn some vocabulary. Then post.
- jrkaisersr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+33atpcliff- Our elected officials came up with this, not just Bush! Maybe you should check and see if the Senator you voted for in the last election supports this bill, or if the House member you support voted for it. Heck, you could unwittingly be supporting this legislation with your vote! Welcome to the Republic, enjoy your stay. :)
- barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25the kids are in school, if they can get around the firewalls/blockage I say more power to them, but they should really be using the internet for research and study in school, not myspace. I do agree that the premise for passing the bill is stupid, but I dont think it's totally unfounded.
- gothsquirrel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20jrkaisersr is right Bush doesn't sit in the House, I'm all for bashing bush most of the time but more people need to recognize that the other jerks we have elected in to the senate and the House are just as corrupt and inept if not worse. Bush probably had very little influence if any at all over this subject, he has more important things to worry about than to be thinking about blocking myspace country wide.
- factoryjoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18"US House Resolution 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), was passed by a 410 to 15 vote tonight. If the Resolution becomes law social networking sites and chat rooms must be blocked by schools and libraries or those institutions will lose their federal internet subsidies."
- alsutton, on 10/12/2007, -12/+28Land of the not-so free, and home of the most idiotic laws and patents system on the planet.....
God bless America, you give the rest of the world something to laugh at by being the villiage idiot of the global community. - MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22Don't worry. For those of you who are younger and haven't watched this before, they try this about every two years. There was the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), then they tried COPA II, and a few other variants besides. The Supreme Court has whacked it every time, and fortunately, I don't think it's been close enough in the past for the current ***** (Roberts, etc) to take it over the top.
Bottom line, this is completely unconstitutional. If blocking social networking sites isn't restraint of speech, nothing is. If it wasn't legal to block porn, it will *not* be legal to block social netoworking. Part of me thinks that's why the vote was so wacky - this is election posturing, and they know the law won't last a week. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16U.S. Constitution: First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Social Networking site are just peaceful assemblies. This is against our right to free speech.
-LaptopHeaven (comment left on Techcrunch site) - Rinnt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13@scoot87
While still publicly owned, libraries are owned by the local government (i.e. cities and towns) not the federal government. The taxes that you pay in your town of residence funds your local library. However, some of the money they receive does come from the federal government as well... - macewan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16funny how much "safety" these kids receive from the government until they turn 18 at which point they can give them a gun and send them off
- carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16break them into the golden collar while they're still puppies, and you'll have nice obedient dogs when they grow up...
- neoform, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I remember in high school, since there was nothing blocked, all everyone would do is ***** around on rotten.com, hotmail.com and a bunch of other wastes of existance.. i agree with this as a rule, it shouldn't be law, but i don't think kids should be using myspace at a library..
- BostonVaulter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10"An incredibly vague law, DOPA will require schools and libraries to block access to a potentially huge range of sites on the internet. The goal is to protect children from adult predators. Sites that must be blocked include those that allow people to post profiles, include personal information and allow 'communication among users.' "
That is just messed up. This bill needs to be re-worded (not that I agree with it in the first place) It is simply too broad. "communication among users" includes any forums, digg, perhaps even wikipedia. Or maybe they would just block the part of the site that has discussion on the pages.
As for my own opinion, I think that schools should be able to block this material on their own and not be required by the government. My school had blocks on myspace and similar sites because of "productivity issues" or something. I guess I was okay with it, I just found other things to waste my time on, plus plenty of the other kids just used proxies to get around it. - wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11We need a more laws; here are some I think our elect officials would love.
We need one against politicians serving more than two terms. It is time to move on and get some fresh thinkers and people that DO want to serve the people who elected them. It is public service after all.
We need on that says they can not add on amendments to a bill, either the bill goes as it was presented or it doesn't.
We need another that says the elected official must WORK a 50 hour work week, and only get two weeks vacation time per year, that's what I get.
We need another law that say our elect officials must either drive their family car or take public transportation (coach or the bus (and they pay their own fair)). No more special rock star treatment. Besides they need to stay in touch with their constituents.
That's just my 2 cents. - Bioshocker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The "Won't someone think of the children?!?" argument is a cancer that is destroying modern politics.
- Dgen_X, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18what's with all the complaints? this kinda ***** should be blocked in schools anyway, kids don't need to be checking their myspace messages between classes. Now blocking them in libraries is a different story, because there are several people who do not have the internet at home and use the public computers up at thier local library, and as long as what they are viewing is 'clean' they should be able to view whatever the want.
- MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13"The key is the last part of your post. Noone is telling them that they have to block the sites, only that they have to block them if they would like to receive money from the federal government. This is NOT a restriction of "free speech", and those of you that think that it is should probably spend more time reading your Constitution and less time on here."
That IS a restriction of free speech, and you should spend more time reading case law and less time on here. See
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,52903-0.html
In this case, the law was that libraries receiving federal funds would have to implement filtering software. This was declared unconstitutional, as the judges saw through the "funding" ruse better than you did, evidently. If it's illegal to *filter* porn, I'm guessing it will be illegal to flat-out block an entire range of sites whose entire purpose is person-to-person communication - xavihax0r, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12yeah, it said it passed the house, which means Bush, as far as the story says, is not involved at this point.
Blame democracy if you want to blame anything. This is the results of politicians thinking they can pass a law to get support of parents and win their next election.
And where in the constitution does it say that that congress is allowed to pass laws like these? - EggzDiggs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I don't think colleges and universities would be affected by a bill designed to help out parents who can't take responsibility for setting ground rules about such abstract concepts as "strangers".
- Punisher2K, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Good.
Go learn something for a change. We are already the dumbest nation in the world - Popdmb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7lol @ "The Deleting Online Predators Act."
No one that knows anything about technology in the House i guess....what a ridiculous name. Next up? The "OMFGROFLMAO Resolution." - robwistar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@MrUnderbridge:
Interesting. Makes me wonder if they even care whether or not this stands up. They can say they voted for it regardless of what the court does. Overconcerned parents appreciatively vote them back into office, the courts smack down the ban ... but by then who cares?
Also, when do you kids have time at school for screwing around on myspace? Do you use the labs after school? Or is recess now spent indoors? (I hope not...) - raltschwager, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It's too bad there is no longer books in school to research from.
- magnusdopus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This will speed users to using Mobile social networks. Also, I cringe at the thought of kids using proxies. What's to prevent some pervert operating a proxy?
- scorpy01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@penncon: This is the same tactic the federal government used to dictate to the states the legal drinking age (raised from 18 to 21) and the BAC, lowered to .08 for DUI. These are laws under state jurisdiction but the federal government makes the laws in a round about way by tying federal funding of highways, etc. to the them. I just can't imagine that's what our founding fathers had in mind when they created this government.
- fakesinatra, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I agree with this 100% for schools but not for libraries.
Kids in school don't need to be checking their email or myspace or anything else of the sort. - br0ck, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Well, at least GOP.com will now have to be blocked at schools since it's blog allows social networking, shows profiles, and requires a large number of personal details to sign up: https://www.gop.com/Secure/Signup.aspx?bl=1
If that link doesn't work, hit 'blog', then 'join now' at gop.com. - LaundroMat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Since when should something that is "not appropriate" be forbidden by law?
- starchaser, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10I dunno about libraries, but are schools the right place to use AIM or Myspace? I attend college and i hate it when i need to do some work and i can not because someone is using MSN or playing games.
- Ninjab3ar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8i cant believe this guy has a positive number of diggs. im no bush supporter, but its congress who passes laws, sure bush can veto it, but why the hell should he care about 12 year olds going to myspace in their school libraries if there is a war in Iraq, and the whole middle east is going through severe turmoil. thik about that before complaining about "bush not letting you look at your myspace account during homeroom"
- josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@ atpcliff
Stay in school - Learn some grammar. Also...get your own computer and stop wasting our tax dollars using the public library to setup acounts on MySpace and Online Gambling... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I dont need the government to police what my child views on the internet. This needs to be the policy of every school but not a law.
That being said, MySpace and other social networking sites need to be blocked at schools. That's not what those computers are there for. - gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I would submit that you couldnt use google (has forums/ groups), gmail (has the chat function), couldnt use ebay (has the forums and dialog functionality), couldnt use wikipedia ("...collaborative writing..." sounds pretty near forums to me).
Your almost just left with porn. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6If you read the bill it states (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h5319eh.txt.pdf)
"In determining the definition of a social networking website, the Commission shall take into consideration the extent to which a website--
`(i) is offered by a commercial entity;
`(ii) permits registered users to create an on-line profile that includes detailed personal information;
`(iii) permits registered users to create an on-line journal and share such a journal with other users;
`(iv) elicits highly-personalized information from users; and
`(v) enables communication among users.'."
The extent to which wikipedia falls into these criteria would probably be negligible if ever challenged, especially since its a non-profit organization (non-commercial) - goldenbb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Information, unfiltered by the state, is dangerous to the state.
- Bioshocker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5What happens when "chat sites" gets interpreted as including blogs too - since they have comments sections, right?
Then what happens when mysteriously any blogs which discuss *anything* that politicians disagree with, magically disappear from libraries and schools? - Valhalla, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7At least in the libraries "Adults" which I am assuming is 18+ can ask to access these sights, granted they will probably be looked at as the perverts searching for little kids.
The one question I have is at what levels of schools do they intend to try and apply this. Surely it would be a disaster to try and apply it to public universities with on campus housing and dorm room internet access. Not to mention unreasonable since most college students are "adults" anyways. - pegisys, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8""""Kids in school don't need to be checking their email or myspace or anything else of the sort.""""
I agree, there is no point in kids checking email and using myspace in school if they are supposed to be using the computer for school work. - garyploski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Here's the roll call (yeas/neas/not voting) on the bill...
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll405.xml - djork, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Seriously, this is overdue. Have you SEEN a high school library or computer-equipped room during a class? It's just MySpace and AIM Express all freaking day long. It's just not appropriate, and it really is a problem.
- joel2600, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6you people are totally missing the point.
most schools and libraries are already required to have filters because if they don't then they end up missing out on government cash. the really important thing though is the ambiguity and the fact that these people are passing laws that they don't even really understand.
'social networking' can be taken to mean a lot of things. don't just think myspace, think about any forum where users can interact, even ones that are educational in nature. we live in a society where our laws are being bastardized and abused to no end, and this is just another way to just toss some more fuzzy wording into the mix to prosecute people for potentially almost any use of the internet.
you ever use google groups to do any research? well you might want to think twice before doing that in a library or you might end up on the wrong side of the law. - Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4have you tried researching biology or some such with these filters
I had to do an assignment about the inner ear, nearly every usefull site was blocked for "Tasteless or gross"
filters suck, trying to work on machines where you have to circumvent the system just to do your school work, potentially getting yourself in trouble so you can do better then a half assed job sucks - rabiddogma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The question is not if you are ok with this or not. This is a broad over reaching legislation that will stifle useful educational sites along with the problem ones. I have no problem with school administrators blocking problem sites--many already do without an act of congress. But congress passing poorly written legislation about it is outrageous. This bill would also ban sites like digg, wikipedia and blogs from the classroom. Should congress be making this decision for schools? Or should school admins make that judgement?
- apocalizer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why can't we just stick with the tried and true method here? Students who waste time on MySpace/MSN won't be doing homework and they'll get flunked. Those who waste time and do well are either paying attention enough that they don't deserve to be blocked or they're using online cheating and are going to end up going nowhere in life.
- fooplex, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Why don't they also go ahead and ban cars, because predators use cars to get to their victims. And roads too.
Ban all travel in the US! Save the children! - Superfluous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You dont need to be looking at that ***** while you are at school anyways. they are there for work and learning, not chatting with your friends on aim or myspace.
- areric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Many self respecting librarians will fight this all the way to the supreme court. Fortunatly librarians tend to be one of the most active groups when it comes to civil rights and freedom of speech issues.
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