Justice Dept. defends mandatory Web-labeling bill

JUSTICE DEPT DEFENDS MANDATORY WEB-LABELING
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
The Department of Justice has stepped up its defense of a proposal to imprison Web site operators who don't label pages containing sexually explicit material. The idea, outlined in an April speech by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, is approaching a vote in Congress. Even though there have been no hearings, the legislation has been attached to two separate measures -- the Senate communications bill and a bill to fund large portions of the federal government including the State Department--that are likely to be considered by the full Senate this fall. The proposed restrictions are no different from requiring multipurpose stores like 7-Eleven to shield pornographic magazines with so-called blinder racks, Larry Rothenberg, an attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, said at a panel discussion here hosted by the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee on Friday. Under the proposal, all commercial Web site operators would have to place "identifiable marks or notices," to be determined by the Federal Trade Commission, in the code of each page that contains "sexually explicit material" as defined by existing U.S. criminal statute. The idea, supporters maintain, is to make it easier for Web-filtering programs to pick up objectionable sites. "There's no way to avoid vagueness, no way to avoid overbreadth, and, more important, no way to avoid chilling free speech," said Leslie Harris, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
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