States try to stymie child porn. (On First Reading).New laws New Laws: see Las Casas, Bartolomé de. in Pennsylvania and South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). make Internet service providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. (ISPs) responsible for working with citizens, law enforcement and state government to put a dent in child pornography Child pornography is the visual representation of minors under the age of 18 engaged in sexual activity or the visual representation of minors engaging in lewd or erotic behavior designed to arouse the viewer's sexual interest. . The Pennsylvania law, signed by the governor in February, requires ISPs to shut down specifically cited child porn sites within five days of formal notice from the state attorney general's office. Firms that do not respond would face criminal prosecution with escalating penalties for repeat violations -- $5,000 for the first offense, $20,000 for the second, and $30,000 and possible jail time for third or subsequent offenses. The law could be triggered any time someone comes across a child porn site while surfing the 'Net and reports it to the police. Prosecutors would then have to ask county courts for a finding that site contents violate child pornography statutes. That order would be forwarded to the attorney general for action against the ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. hosting the site. Representative Ron Buxton, who sponsored the legislation, said he hopes the law's effects reach beyond Pennsylvania when such large ISPs as America On-Line are asked to shut down sites and block them for all customers. "I'm also looking forward to hearing from law enforcement in the future as to how they've applied it to disable child pornography on the Internet," he said. South Dakota passed a similar law this session. And in another attempt to muzzle the smut smut, name for an order of parasitic fungi (Ustilaginales) and the various diseases of plants caused by them. Smuts produce sootlike masses of spores on the host. mongers, South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. enacted a law last summer that requires computer technicians to report child pornography to law enforcement when they find it during the course of their work. Similar laws apply to film developers who encounter child pornography on the job. The law requires technicians "who view such images when working on a computer" to give law enforcement officials the names and addresses of the computer user. A similar piece of legislation was proposed in Illinois in February. Critics charge that this type of law unfairly transfers law enforcement duties to individuals--who may not be qualified to handle evidence, determine what constitutes child pornography or who may end up accusing an innocent colleague. |
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