National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: Feds Look for More Ways to Invade Your Privacy

by angryindian | August 30, 2007 at 09:41 am | 389 views | add comment

While some readers may harbour morality objections, the invasion of personal Internet privacy is going up a new level. The federal government is now proposing to intensely monitor adult Internet communities under the auspices of combating child pornography. If they were really serious about going after pedophiles they could simply put MySpace and the Catholic Church out of business as a good first step. Or they could simply impose penalties on the European and Asian countries that produce and export such material as well as the trade of poverty stricken women literally sold to firms that supply these "contract workers" to places such as Saipan, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. In the recent past Homeland Security and the Justice Department has tried to pass measures to invade Internet privacy and were always able to tweak the legislation under the public concern for child safety and their right to freedom from exploitation. It would only be a matter of time before these new laws would instead be used against poltical dissidents much like how terrorism laws are used more against activists and street gangs than actual anti-American terrorist activity.

- The Angryindian

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The federal government is proposing regulations that would effectively kill adult social-networking sites. This is being done under the guise of fighting child pornography. You have until September 10 to object to these regulations. It’s easy to do and essential. A sample e-mail comment is at the bottom of this page. Please forward this information to your friends!

What’s the Deal?

The Department of Justice is proposing regulations to implement a federal law designed to combat child pornography, known as Section 2257. The law was first enacted in 1998 and was amended in 2006 and significantly expanded to include regulation of the Internet.

While many of the regulations pertain to companies that produce adult entertainment magazines and videos (and are extremely burdensome), they would also affect anyone who uses an adult social-networking site. Here’s how:

* The regulations would require the people running a site to get and maintain personal information from every user (that means you) who posts a “sexually explicit” photo, including your photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or military ID).

* The regulations would allow the Attorney General to conduct warrantless searches at will on the sites’ records, including your personal information.

* There are few safeguards over what the FBI can do with the information it obtains.

* If a site operator fails to comply with the regulations, he or she would face a prison sentence of up to 5 years.

* For more detailed information on Sec. 2257, go to http://www.thetaskforce.org/...257_fact_sheet.pdf.