Ariz. House considers filtering bill

[Filtering Facts]

Add that to Virginia, Indiana, and Tennesee, all currently with laws
pending. And two pieces of federal legislation:  The McCain bill, which may
include libraries, and the Coats CDA II bill.  And you see the growth in
PICS, filters, the online summit, etc., and it's becoming clear that some
kind of net rating, censoring, or zoning is probably inevitable.



At 10:20 AM 1/27/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Arizona House Bill 2456 had its first reading on 1/15/98.  The
>intent of the proposed legislation appears to be to require
>any public entity offering public-access computers to install
>software to "prevent minors from gaining access to explicit
>sexual materials."
>
>The bill proposes to amend existing Arizona law by
>extending a provision that forbids the "public display of explicit
>sexual materials."
>
>For those interested in the legal language, the text of the
>existing "public display" statute, and the text of the proposed
>legislation follows.
>
>* * * * * * * *
>
>Arizona Revised Statutes
>
>13-3507.  Public display of explicit sexual materials;
>classification; definitions
>
>A.  It is unlawful for any person knowingly to place
>explicit sexual material upon public display, or knowingly
>to fail to take prompt action to remove such a display
>from property in his possession or under his control
>after learning of its existence.
>
>B.  A person who violates any provision of this section
>is guilty of a class 6 felony.
>
>C.  For the purposes of this section:
>
>1.  "Explicit sexual material" means any drawing, photograph,
>film negative, motion picture, figure, object, novelty device,
>recording, transcription or any book, leaflet, pamphlet,
>magazine, booklet or other item, the cover or contents of
>which depicts human genitalia or depicts or verbally describes
>nudity, sexual activity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or
>sadomasochistic abuse in a way which is harmful to
>minors.  Explicit sexual material does not include any
>depiction or description which, taken in context, possesses
>serious educational value for minors or which possesses
>serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
>
>2.  "Public display" means the placing of material on or in
>a billboard, viewing screen, theater marquee, newsstand,
>display rack, vending machine, window, showcase, display
>case or similar place so that material within the definition
>of paragraph 1 of this subsection is easily visible or
>readily accessible from a public thoroughfare, from the
>property of others, or in any place where minors are
>invited as part of the general public.
>
>
>* * * * * * * *
>
>The text of the bill proposing a statutory requirement
>to impose filtering software follows:
>
>
>HB2456 - 432R - I Ver
>
>Reference Title: public computers; children; access limitations
>
>NEW LANGUAGE APPEARS LIKE THIS [CAPS]
>Stricken language appears like this [italics]
>Remaining language appears like this [plaintext]
>
>AN ACT
>AMENDING TITLE 34, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES,
>BY ADDING CHAPTER 5; RELATING TO PUBLIC ACCESS
>COMPUTERS.
>
>Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
>
>Section 1. Title 34, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended
>by adding chapter 5, to read:
>
>chapter 5 Computer access
>
>article 1. Access by minors
>
>34-501. Definitions
>
>IN THIS ARTICLE, UNLESS THE CONTEXT OTHERWISE
>REQUIRES:
>
>1. "EXPLICIT SEXUAL MATERIALS" HAS THE SAME
>MEANING AS PRESCRIBED IN SECTION 13-3507.
>
>2. "PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTER" MEANS A COMPUTER
>THAT:
>
>(a) IS LOCATED IN A PUBLIC BUILDING.
>
>(b) MAY BE USED DIRECTLY BY A MINOR.
>
>(c) IS CONNECTED TO ANY COMPUTER COMMUNICATION
>SYSTEM.
>
>3. "PUBLIC ENTITY" MEANS THIS STATE OR ANY
>POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE.
>
>34-502. Explicit sexual materials
>
>A PUBLIC ENTITY THAT PROVIDES A PUBLIC ACCESS
>COMPUTER SHALL EQUIP THE COMPUTER WITH
>SOFTWARE THAT WILL PREVENT MINORS FROM
>GAINING ACCESS TO EXPLICIT SEXUAL MATERIALS.
>
>* * * * * * * *
>
>AzLA to oppose bill
>
>In its executive board meeting on January 23, the Arizona
>Library Association voted to oppose the bill on three
>grounds:  (1) technical unfeasibility (association felt
>that language of 34-502 implies a promise of safety
>that cannot be provided by filtering software and that
>inappropriate blocking is a problem of existing
>software), (2) usurpation of local control (association felt
>that the filtering decision is best left to local entities),
>and (3) restriction of right to read (association
>unequivocally shares the ALA stance).
>
>(Note that the above is an informal summary of the
>association's discussions by the poster, who was in
>attendance.  It is not the text of the association's
>formal resolution.)
>
>Hearings on the bill are scheduled for January 28 --
>representatives of the Arizona Library Association will
>be present to testify.
>
>
>-- Joe Schallan
>Glendale Public Library
>Glendale, Arizona
>jschall at glenpub.lib.az.us
>
>
>
>
>
>

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David Burt, Filtering Facts, HTTP://WWW.FILTERINGFACTS.ORG
David_Burt at filteringfacts.org