Utah Wants To Give ISPs That Filter a "G-Rating"

An anonymous reader writes "HB407 in Utah would create a child-friendly designation for ISPs that block out a range of prohibited materials. Google, Yahoo, and others are fighting the bill, but Rep. Michael Morley says, 'I think it's a positive thing for those who are looking for a site that is dedicated to fighting pornography.'"

How about an "adult-friendly" rating ...

[trolltalk.com]

... so all those politicians, holy rollers, and "protect the children" types can more easily find their daily dose of pr0n ...

New Zealand has an interesting approach to this

[The Ancients]

Here in New Zealand, the government provided funds for Watchdog [watchdog.net.nz] to develop a filtering system suitable for schools. Part of the deal was that any other ISP had access to the system and could supply their own customers with internet access filtered by the system.

Whilst not perfect, it did provide schools etc with a default option and a starting point for internet access.

Ralph Yarro / CP80 are at it again.

[2or3]

The text of this bill comes almost verbatim from the "1st State Initiative [cp80.com]" documents posted at http://www.cp80.com/resources/listall [cp80.com].
This is the latest in a series who's last gem was would have essentially shut down free-wifi in Utah.
Apparently it's easier to get a Utah legislator to rubber-stamp your bill than I'd expect.

Filter this site

[morcheeba]

I found a website they need to censor. It has gross pictures [utah.gov], pictures of dead people [utah.gov], and a giant phallus! [utah.gov] There are even naked breasts [utah.gov]. Would someone think of the children?!

Re:Unworkable

[BWJones]

Beyond unworkable, there are other issues at play including 4th Amendment rights. This is covered in Pete Ashdown's blog [peteashdown.org] (Pete is an ISP owner)

It's more than filtering: it's IP number tracking

[Dekortage]

Quoting from the actual bill [utah.gov]:

(2) The attorney general shall award the Community Conscious Internet Provider designation to an Internet service provider that:

• (a) completes an application created by the attorney general; and
• (b) agrees to:
  • (i) prohibit its customers by contract from publishing any prohibited communication;
  • (ii) remove or prevent access to any prohibited communication published by or accessed using the Internet service provider's service within a reasonable time after the Internet service provider learns of the prohibited communication;
  • (iii) comply with any court order concerning the removal of a prohibited communication;
  • (iv) maintain a record for two years following its allocation of an IP address of the IP address, the date and time of the allocation, and the customer to whom the IP address is allocated;
  • (v) cooperate with any law enforcement agency by providing records sufficient to identify a customer if the law enforcement agency requests the information and supplies reasonable proof that a crime has been committed using the Internet service provider's service;
  • (vi) respond to the attorney general, other law enforcement agency, or customer who complains of a prohibited communication published by or accessible using the Internet service provider's service; and
  • (vii) provide information concerning the Internet service provider's compliance with this section promptly upon request by the attorney general.

(3) An Internet service provider that is awarded the Community Conscious Internet Provider designation shall require its customers to enter into an agreement providing that:

• (a) publishing a prohibited communication is prohibited; and
• (b) the Internet service provider will:
  • (i) remove or prevent access to a prohibited communication of which it is aware;
  • (ii) comply with a court order ordering the removal of a prohibited communication;
  • (iii) maintain a record for two years following its allocation of an IP address of the IP address, the date and time of the allocation, and the customer to whom the IP address is allocated;
  • (iv) cooperate with any law enforcement agency by providing records sufficient to identify a customer if the law enforcement agency requests the information and supplies reasonable proof that a crime has been committed using the Internet service provider's service; and
  • (v) respond to the attorney general, other law enforcement agency, or customer who complains of a prohibited communication published by or accessible using the Internet service provider's service.

Emphasis added. This is partially about filtering "objectionable" content (though the ISP can wait until after it's been reported to them), but they also have to track IP numbers for specific customers and store that information for up to two years. This is about law enforcement....