WASHINGTON, DC – As anticipated, the U.S. House of Representatives passed what is now called the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006,” an extensive collection of new and revised statutes, including substantial changes to 18 USC 2257.In a statement released today by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Gonzales asserts that “America’s children will be better protected from every parent’s worst nightmare — sexual predators – thanks to passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.”
While Gonzales and other advocates of the legislation focus on the new provisions for registration of sex offenders and enhanced penalties for sexual offenses against children, Gonzales’ statement also references the changes to 18 USC 2257, noting that the Act contains provisions “Enhancing recordkeeping requirements to ensure that minors are not depicted in sexually explicit material.”
Among other things, the Act alters the definition of “produces” and includes an entirely new section (2257A) pertaining to record keeping requirements for simulated sexually-explicit material.
In his statement, Gonzales also references section 703 of the Act, a section which covers “Deception by Embedded Words or Images.”
The Act serves to prohibit “the insidious practice engaged in by certain sexually explicit web sites of hiding innocuous terms in the hypertext markup language so that a search for those terms on the internet yields links to the sexually explicit web sites,” Gonzales said.
The Act now heads to the desk of President George W. Bush, who is expected to sign the bill into law on Thursday at a ceremony timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the abduction of Adam Walsh, son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh.
