Utah & Michigan Can Bite Me!

[robin]

Last year, Michigan and Utah passed a law creating a Child Protection Registry protecting minors from receiving or viewing illegal products and services. Illegal items include, but are not limited to:

Tobacco
Alcohol
Gambling
Prescription Drugs
Illegal Drugs
Adult Content
Guns/Knives/Weapons
Lotteries
Sweepstakes

Apparently the registry goes into affect tomorow, (Friday).

I receive an email from my mailing list provider/manager stating that I would have to comply. This means that I would have to submit my mailing lists on a monthly basis to the states of Utah & Michigan and also pay for the priveledge of sharing my mailing list with them.

Earlier today I made an announcement to all of my mailing lists, (before I had found out about this crap) that I was retiring from newsletter publishing as after 5 years I'm exhuasted. Not to mention tired of false spam complaints, (the last month has been a doozy with those -- care to guess which U.S. ISP generated the most? Hint: starts with initial "A" ends in initial "L" ), tired of fighting with ISPs to get my email through, etc...

This new legislation makes the decission easier -- There's no way I'll be submitting any mailing list to anyone so that they can clean it of people who don't want to be receiving deviant emails AND to do anything else they feel like.



Related news links:
http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3516736

http://news.com.com/Why+ribaldry+cou...3-5761463.html

[EmporerEJ]

email, or snail mail?

[robin]

Its email; its about "protecting the children" online again...

[robin]

Well not just the children but the scores of people who sign up to mailings and find that they're also getting links to sites and services that contain un-christian thoughts, ideas, pictures, words.... *sigh*

[Lee]

Yeah i read about that somewhere earlier tonight too.

Some of these laws the states are passing are just plain crazy.

Regards,

Lee

[desslock]

Last year, Michigan and Utah passed a law creating a Child Protection Registry protecting minors from receiving or viewing illegal products and services. Illegal items include, but are not limited to: Tobacco Alcoho Gambling Prescription Drugs

Well.... is your ISP in Michigan or Utah? I don't really think why an ISP elsewhere would really care. Look, the thing to remember regarding all these laws is that the Supreme Court has always found Internet laws like this to be unconstituional.

In fact, during all this 2257 speculation this Summer, I am surprised that I have not heard last year's court ruling that invalidated the 1998 Child Online Protection Act - http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/29/scotus.web.indecency/

This is clearly topical to all of these discussions.

This case took the wise view that it is up to the parents to protect their children from objectionable material. This decision is going to create a lot of trouble for state laws like these, spam laws, and hopefully implementation of 2257.

I'm sure parties in both states will take it to court. It is the American Way. :4ymca: :4ymca: :4ymca:

Steve

[Squirt]

Time to get a new mailing list provider.

I posted on another board about this last week. Top attorneys say that, if a company challenged this, it has no legs to stand on and would be shot down on constitutional grounds.

[robin]

I sure hope someone does challenge them Steve.

Yeah Squirt I should think that this thing has no legs but what do I know.

The mailing list company is in Pennsylvania but they seem gungho to comply.

Oh well no matter; as I'm finished with them -- cancelled my account.