Thursday, May 07, 2009
Proposal 'comes close to making itfederal offense to log onto Internet'
By Bob Unruh
 Jail cell |
A new proposal in Congress is threatening fines and jail time for what it calls "cyberbullying" – communications that include e-mails and text messages that "cause substantial emotional distress."
The vague generalities are included in H.R. 1966 by California Democrat Linda Sanchez and about a dozen co-sponsors.
But it already is being condemned as unconstitutional, unrealistic and probably ineffectual.
At Wired.com, in a report labeled "Threat Level," writer David Kravets criticized the plan to demand "up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to 'coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress.'"
"Instead of prison, perhaps we should say gulag," he wrote.
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