A virtual land deal gone awry has led to a real world court battle pitting a Web-savvy attorney against Second Life, a 3-dimensional Internet world game created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. The lawsuit, perhaps the first of its kind, was filed in W. Chester, Pa., small claims court. It seeks $8,000 in financial damages, in part for a breach of a virtual land auction contract and for violation of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
DoJ has quietly cleared a new proposal that would strengthen a statute that already allows the govt. to prosecute ISPs for failing to report child porn on their networks, a top agency official told lawmakers late Wed. Penalties exist for Internet firms that willfully and knowingly fail to report incidents to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The new plan would allow civil penalties to be imposed on those that negligently fail to report evidence of an online crime, Asst. Attorney Gen. Alice Fisher told a House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations hearing.
The rise in online pursuit of children by pedophiles is “frighteningly real” and growing rapidly, and must be stopped, Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales said Thurs. Speaking at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), he unveiled a legislative proposal aimed at ensuring website operators and ISPs do their part to keep kids safe online. His speech came on the heels of 2 high-profile hearings on challenges to fighting child porn (WID April 10 p1).
Lawmakers fired questions at law enforcement officials Thurs. about efforts to curb the Internet child pornography industry. The House Commerce Investigations Subcommittee hearing came 2 days after the same panel heard chilling testimony from Justin Berry, a teenager who described victimization at the hands of sexual predators with whom he corresponded online. The latest session zeroed in on allegations that child porn peddlers “laugh at law enforcement” (WID April 5 p1). Members expressed fears that the estimated $20 billion industry is growing and efforts to crack down aren’t effective enough.
The White House Mon. unveiled a $2.77 trillion budget for fiscal 2007 that would include new money for information technology (IT), communications security and information management programs at key agencies.
American Shipper reports that on November 19, 2005, the House of Representatives passed the Deficit Reduction Act (H.R. 4241), which included a provision to repeal the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (known as the Byrd Amendment). The article notes that H.R. 4241 will now go to a House-Senate conference, and that opposition to the Byrd Amendment's repeal remains strong in the Senate. (ShipperNewsWire, dated 11/21/05, www.americanshipper.com )
The possibility that different federal courts might define journalists differently under the same federal shield law -- and give protection to nonprofessional bloggers -- is a driving factor behind the Justice Dept.’s opposition to bills pending in Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Wed. In a hearing with law enforcement and law professors on one side, and journalists and media executives on the other, each pleading for the other to trust their judgment in serving subpoenas or publishing leaks, none seemed pleased with the blogger question.
A measure targeting “home pornographers” whose work often gets Internet distribution was adopted last week by the House as part of a bill fine-tuning U.S. sex offender registration rules. The adult entertainment industry called the amendment a blatant attempt to “exert control over the sexual practices of American citizens under the guise of protecting children.” Civil rights groups said the move ignores the First Amendment.
A new bill that would slap a substantial tax on online adult entertainment sales and require pornography websites to use more advanced age verification technology drew fire from critics before the ink had dried. The Internet Safety and Child Protection Act, to be unveiled today (Wed.) by Sen. Lincoln (D-Ark.), is “the silliest idea to come out of Congress in a long time,” said Progress & Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Adam Thierer. Even the usually reticent moguls of the porn industry voiced staunch opposition. But Lincoln says it’s time the cost of guarding children online shifted from taxpayers to online smutmongers.
Catching and prosecuting international copyright pirates remains a tough problem in cyberspace, said federal law enforcement and industry sources. Despite well-publicized efforts by the entertainment industry to bust illegal file sharers in civil courts, these efforts are primarily U.S.-centric. In criminal cases, the task of convincing local law enforcement to actively pursue the bad guys takes time and finesse, experts said.