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February 16, 2007

Senator Wants to Block Tubes

Senator Ted Steven has recently introduced legislation that may ban interactive Web sites from public libraries and schools.

This bill, introduced by Ted Stevens - famous for his definition of the internet as a "series of tubes" is similar to the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) that failed in the Senate last legislative session.

Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, called "Son of DOPA" by some, was introduced in early January. It has language so vague that the ban could include the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia and will definitely include the 150 million strong social networking site MySpace.

The act defines social networking as: Any site that "permits registered users to create an online profile that includes detailed personal information" or "enables communication among users." By those standards, wiki sites and even blogs could be in danger.

Bill Would Ban Wikipedia From Public Schools and Libraries 
Text of Legislation

Posted by Buzz Webster at February 16, 2007 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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