SALT LAKE CITY, UT — In an effort to make the notoriously smutty Web more family friendly, the Utah legislature is considering a bill that would reward internet service providers who filter out pornography.ISPS are defined in the bill as any person or entity that “provides internet access, equipment for hosting or publishing content on the internet or a location on the Internet for a customer.”
If passed, HB407, sponsored by Rep. Michael Morley (R-Spanish Fork), would require the Utah Division of Consumer Protection to create a “Consumer Conscious Internet Provider” seal to be awarded to ISPs that sign an agreement refusing to publish or provide access to “prohibited communications.” “Prohibited” is defined as anything considered pornographic or harmful to minors under applicable state law.
It is unclear from the language of the bill whether “communications” in this context refers simply to material published online or might also include email, voice-over-internet-protocol and file-transfer-protocol communications. The bill defines “publishing” as “broadcast[ing], post[ing], link[ing], cach[ing[, or us[ing] an IP address to make a communication.”
In order to qualify for the CCIP designation, ISPs would have to agree to sign their customers to contracts forbidding “prohibited communications.” They also would be required to maintain two years’ worth of records about customers’ online activity.
Any ISPs that join the program but then are found to be violating the criteria would be subject to civil fines up to $10,000 per incident.
Major ISPs and other online presences already are balking at the proposal.
“They’re very concerned about this particular piece of legislation,” Candice Daly, a representative of the American Electronics Association — which represents Google and Yahoo!, among others, told the state’s House Government Operations Committee on Monday. “They don’t see themselves as signing up for this seal.”
Nevertheless, the committee passed the bill along to the floor with a favorable recommendation.
