Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Obscenity is in the eye of the state

House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000.
[...]
Wednesday's vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that's supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In addition, the legislation approved this week has changed substantially since the earlier version and was not available for public review.
(caveat: assuming everything in the story is true.) WTF!? Apparently the dem leadership can rush this specious, unnecessary, unconstitutional bill to a floor vote without going thru committee, but they can't stop the republican minority from blocking legislation!? I repeat, WTF!


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

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