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June 29, 2006 11:38 AM PDT
Congress targets social-networking sites
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Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, originally proposed legislation (click here for PDF) in April that would require Internet service providers to retain activity logs to aid in criminal investigations, including ones involving child abuse.
Now DeGette and some of her colleagues in the House of Representatives are suggesting that social-networking sites should be required to do the same thing.
"How much would it cost your company to preserve those IP addresses?" DeGette asked at a hearing on Wednesday that included representatives from Facebook, Xanga and Fox Interactive Media, the parent company of MySpace. "You're going to store the data indefinitely?"
An IP address is a unique four-byte address used to communicate with a device on a computer network that relies on the Internet Protocol. An IP address associated with CNET.com, for instance, is 216.239.113.101.
Michael Angus, executive vice president of Fox Interactive Media, said he agrees with the idea of data retention for MySpace. "As a media company, Fox is very committed to data retention," Angus said. "It helps us police piracy."
Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, added: "Why can't data that links IP addresses to physical addresses be stored longer?"
The concept of mandatory data retention was pioneered by the European Union, which approved such a requirement for Internet, telephone and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers last December. A few months later, the Bush administration endorsed the idea, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales calling it "an issue that must be addressed" and--as first reported by CNET News.com--following up in private meetings with Internet providers.
In those meetings, Justice Department representatives went beyond the argument that data retention was necessary to protect children--and claimed it would aid in terrorism investigations as well.
During Wednesday's hearing, politicians also claimed that social-networking sites were not doing enough to verify that their users who claimed to be a certain age were telling the truth. (Recent news reports have said that sex predators are using MySpace and similar sites to meet up with teens.)
"There is more you can do," DeGette said. "You can do algorithms that will go beyond just the date of birth that they register, to start to weed out some of the underage users." She also called for the companies to participate in a "national public service program" to distribute an educational video.
Two paths for data retention
Data retention legislation could follow one of two approaches, and it's not entirely clear which one U.S. politicians will choose.
One form could require Internet providers and social-networking sites to record for a fixed time, perhaps one or two years, which IP address is assigned to which user. The other would be far broader, requiring companies to record data such as the identities of e-mail correspondents, logs of who sent and received instant messages (but not the content of those communications), and the addresses of Web pages visited.
Earlier in the week, Internet companies tried to forestall potentially intrusive new federal laws by launching a campaign against child pornography designed to tip off police to illegal images. Participants include AOL, EarthLink, Microsoft, United Online and Yahoo.
In addition, Comcast announced that it will begin to retain logs that map IP addresses to user identities for 180 days, up from its current policy of 31 days. (The company stressed that it does not record information such as "Internet use or Web surfing habits.")
But Rep. Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee, said even after hearing the news, that he still wanted to enact "a comprehensive anti-child-pornography" law. "I think the Congress is tired of talking about it," Barton said, adding that it was time to "protect our children against these despicable child predators that are on the loose right now in our land."
Barton has not released details about his legislation.
This isn't the first time that MySpace and social-networking sites have faced criticism from politicians--and the threat of new federal laws.
A bill introduced last month by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, would cordon off access to commercial Web sites that let users create public "Web pages or profiles" and also offer a discussion board, chat room or e-mail service. It would affect most schools and libraries, which would be required to render those Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of the category's most ardent users.
In addition, politicians proposed a slew of related measures this week, including blocking access to off-color Web sites for all Americans, dispatching "search and destroy" bots that would seek out illegal content, regulating search engines and targeting peer-to-peer networks.
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easier to catch those terrorists and child hunters.
Sexual predators have been around just as long doing the same things, the only difference is it's easier to take a picture, it's easier to share a picture. The methods to abuse haven't changed much, now they meet them on the net instead of at the local drugstore.
Children hide things from their parents, even when they know they shouldn't, they do. I'm sure if you think about it, you did the same when you were young. I really don't think the government can fix it.
They spend billions fighting drugs, which if they legalized they could control and make money from. Seems they didn't learn anything from prohibition.
I'm amazed at their stupidity.
But they are wrong to try to take the place of parents. Let our children's parents do their job; instill morals, a sense of place and perspective, a value of self, and monitor their Internet access and activity.
Don't try to legislate solutions to a lack of parenting; encourage parenting. Find and proscecute lawbreakers, encourage web site designers to provide warnings and disclaimers as part of their presentation. But don't try to control one of the greatest inventions ever, the Internet, a fount of useful, and useless, information, entertainment,and communication. The Internet and all it's capability offers THE greatest opportunity to overcome ignarance, spread democracy throughout the world, and so much more.We should be encouraging more, not less, participation. Isn't it amazing that in spite of Congress' best efforts, most of the time the people get it right anyway?
Our founders rightly determined that free speech was the absolute foundatrion of our democracy, and specifically designed the Constitution to reflect this paramount building block of freedom. Well-meaning but ill-advised legislation to censor and control the Internet defeats one of our greatest opportunities to make the world a better place.
Diogenes
But they are wrong to try to take the place of parents. Let our children's parents do their job; instill morals, a sense of place and perspective, a value of self, and monitor their Internet access and activity.
Don't try to legislate solutions to a lack of parenting; encourage parenting. Find and proscecute lawbreakers, encourage web site designers to provide warnings and disclaimers as part of their presentation. But don't try to control one of the greatest inventions ever, the Internet, a fount of useful, and useless, information, entertainment,and communication. The Internet and all it's capability offers THE greatest opportunity to overcome ignarance, spread democracy throughout the world, and so much more.We should be encouraging more, not less, participation. Isn't it amazing that in spite of Congress' best efforts, most of the time the people get it right anyway?
Our founders rightly determined that free speech was the absolute foundation of our democracy, and specifically designed the Constitution to reflect this paramount building block of freedom. Well-meaning but ill-advised legislation to censor and control the Internet defeats one of our greatest opportunities to make the world a better place.
Diogenes
http://www.techknowcafe.com/content/view/552/44/
You can't go out there and fine a parent because their kid takes a picture of their "cleaveg" as you said.
More than 70% of H.S students have had sex before the age of 18. So under your theory looks like about 70% of parents need to be fined? Good luck on that on buddy...
I agree parents need to be better role models, but this is only a by-product of a even bigger problem. Parents aren't at the home enough because their working their ***** off and barely making it per month.
But this is about myspace and not an agenda...
I don't mind myspace keeping IP Addresses, I don't think it invades pricacy. I would mind if they kept what you said, where you said it etc... I definitely want to crack down on predators, but not hamper my free liberties at the same time. I don't want to be punished because some moron out there is sick in the head.
I disagree in that I do not want to give up liberties that nearly every member in my family has fought for to keep. When you start giving up liberties, is when you start to give up your inherit freedoms.
Its like the gas analogy.
Gas here 6 years ago was about $1.90. Then it show up to $2.25.. everyone was pissed. Then it dipped down to $2.00.. everyone was happy. A few years passed and it skyrocked to $2.60.. people were pissed again. Then it dipped back down to $2.30.. people were happy.
What the normal person doesn't realize is your happy that gas really went up $.40.
Gas goes up $3.60 here and people go INSANE. Then it drops back down to $3.00.. people quite up. Eventhough in the last few years it goes from $2.30 to $3.00.
Point...? You give up one liberty get pissed, but then try to justify it. So then another liberty is taken away.. you get pissed.. but heck its to fight terriorism. Then another liberty, then another liberty.. and so on and so on and so on.
When does it stop...? Answer.. you start taking away freedoms.. it doesn't.
I disagree in that I do not want to give up liberties that nearly every member in my family has fought for to keep. When you start giving up liberties, is when you start to give up your inherit freedoms.
Its like the gas analogy.
Gas here 6 years ago was about $1.90. Then it show up to $2.25.. everyone was pissed. Then it dipped down to $2.00.. everyone was happy. A few years passed and it skyrocked to $2.60.. people were pissed again. Then it dipped back down to $2.30.. people were happy.
What the normal person doesn't realize is your happy that gas really went up $.40.
Gas goes up $3.60 here and people go INSANE. Then it drops back down to $3.00.. people quite up. Eventhough in the last few years it goes from $2.30 to $3.00.
Point...? You give up one liberty get pissed, but then try to justify it. So then another liberty is taken away.. you get pissed.. but heck its to fight terriorism. Then another liberty, then another liberty.. and so on and so on and so on.
When does it stop...? Answer.. you start taking away freedoms.. it doesn't.
- Something Needs to be Done
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by JJ_Wilde
July 12, 2006 2:13 AM PDT
- It's good to know that congress is targeting SOMETHING. I was beginning to think that they had no idea what they were doing. Now we have at least a significant indication that they are performing clowns.
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