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Sex Offender E-Mail Registry Signed Into Law

Posted by timothy on from the island-of-liars-and-truth-tellers dept.

As noted in Wired yesterday, tragedy in chaos writes, "Senator and Presidential-hopeful John McCain has managed to get a new bill signed into law, in the hope of ridding online social networks of the sexual predation of children. The 'Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008,' as it is called, calls for a database to be made in which all registered sexual offenders must also register their e-mail addresses so that MySpace, Facebook, etc. can run current and hopeful users through it, and eliminate access to the offenders. Though a noble goal, this is not very well thought out in methodology. They are asking known criminals to be honest, and are expecting them not to utilize any of the free and readily available e-mail services that exist so as to circumvent the system. There is also a potential for the crafty sex offender to possibly cause false positives by just registering an address that does not belong to them, thereby drawing in innocent bystanders."

4 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Hey editors: This isn't McCain's bill! by Ortega-Starfire · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-431

    Sponsor: Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]

    Co-Sponsors:
    Cosponsors [as of 2008-10-15]
    Sen. Ted Stevens [R-AK]
    Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
    Sen. John Kerry [D-MA]
    Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
    Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-NY]
    Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]
    Sen. Jon Kyl [R-AZ]
    Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I-CT]
    Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME]
    Sen. Michael Crapo [R-ID]
    Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA]
    Sen. Tim Johnson [D-SD]
    Sen. Mary Landrieu [D-LA]
    Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
    Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA]
    Sen. Kay Hutchison [R-TX]
    Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]
    Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
    Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]
    Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]

    Any reason you feel like mentioning McCain but not Hillary, or the fact that they were merely co-sponsors? Or the fact that the vote was in fact, unanimous?

    --
    ---- Liquid was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Hey editors: This isn't McCain's bill! by JeanPaulBob · · Score: 5, Informative

      Any reason you feel like mentioning McCain but not Hillary, or the fact that they were merely co-sponsors? Or the fact that the vote was in fact, unanimous?

      Well... Wired says that McCain wrote the bill. That's why the editors mentioned McCain.

      But your link throws that into question. There's no indication at the govtrack site that McCain had anything to do with writing it--Schumer is the main sponsor, and McCain shows up in a list of co-sponsors along with Obama.

      Also, Schumer said in his speech that he authored the bill, and doesn't mention McCain.

      So... I call Shenanigans on Wired.

  2. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by icebrain · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, there's also the problem that stupid little things (like pissing against a building, or taking naked photos of [i]yourself[/i] under 18) can earn you the "sex offender" label for life. I agree, the dangerous ones should be in prison, but the label is carried too far to the extreme in many cases.

    --
    The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
  3. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by PitaBred · · Score: 5, Informative

    I hate jacking a high-up post, but it needs to be said that both McCain AND OBAMA were co-sponsors of this bill. "tragedy in chaos" is a hypocritical jackass, and this article's blurb needs amended.

    --
    My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.