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The House passed the Deleting Online Predators Act (HR- 5319), 41...

The House passed the Deleting Online Predators Act (HR- 5319), 410-15, late Wed., as critics called it “redundant” and predicted trouble for it on constitutional grounds. The bill would require that those getting universal service support for schools and…

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libraries bar children from accessing “commercial” social networking sites and chat rooms, “unless used for an educational purpose with adult supervision.” Rep. Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), the bill’s sponsor, said: “Parents pay the taxes that fund the Internet access to schools and libraries and they should have a say in how their subsidy is used.” The bill is part of the Republican “suburban agenda” (WID May 12 p4). Fitzpatrick earlier hinted to us that a Senate companion bill was in the works, but aides to Sens. Talent (R-Mo.) and Santorum (R-Pa.) -- pegged as likely sponsors by Fitzpatrick staff -- couldn’t tell us by deadline if their offices were working on legislation. Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.) complained that Speaker Hastert (R-Ill.) rewrote the bill “behind closed doors.” A well-placed Democratic source said the Republicans fine-tuned the bill’s definitions, without Democratic input, after law enforcement observers termed them too ambiguous to enforce. Stupak also griped that the majority didn’t allow markup before the floor vote, noting the Commerce Committee just marked up a bill on “misleading thread counts for wool suits.” Stupak called HR- 5319 “redundant” because schools and libraries getting USF funding already must monitor minors’ Internet use and use filtering technology. No witnesses in hearings on the bill mentioned online child exploitation as a problem at schools and libraries, he said, adding that if implemented the bill will drive children to unsupervised sites and do nothing to hold ISPs accountable for reporting online predators to authorities and blocking dangerous content. The American Library Assn. (ALA) has said the bill would block constitutionally protected speech, Stupak said. But the ALA didn’t mention the issue in a statement after passage, saying the bill would complicate distance learning and block instant-messaging, e-mail, wiki and blog applications. Other parts of the bill: The FTC must define “social networking website” and “chat room” within 120 days of enactment. HR- 5319 instructs the Commission to consider the extent to which a website: (1) Is a commercial entity. (2) Lets users create profiles with detailed personal information, and share online journals with others. (3) Elicits “highly- personalized information” from users, and enables communication among users. The FTC also would be ordered to create Web resources to warn parents and schools about online dangers to minors.