December 5, 2008
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House

H.R. 756, Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla.
Introduced: Feb. 13, 2003
Committee: House Education and the Workforce; Judiciary
Description: H.R. 756 would ban "child modeling" Web sites that show children in compromising positions. The prohibition would apply to sites such as www.lilamber.com and www.stacystarlet.com that allegedly exploit children as young as four by placing photos or video clips of them in sexually suggestive poses. Under the measure, sites could not charge fees to view models age 16 or younger or sell only photos or videos of the children they feature. A similar Senate bill, S. 404, was introduced.
H.R. 939, Truth in Domain Names Act
Sponsor: Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
Introduced: Feb. 26, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 939 would make it illegal to use false or misleading domain names to attract children to sexually explicit Internet sites. Violators of the measure would be subject to fines of up to $250,000 and prison terms of up to two years, or both. A survey by the Crimes Against Children Research Center found that one-fourth of children ages 10 to 17 who use the Internet regularly accidentally found inappropriate sexual material. Most exposures occurred while the children were searching the Web at home, and 43 percent of the children did not disclose their experiences to any adults.
H.R. 1161, Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas
Introduced: March 6, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 1161 seeks to prevent the circulation of child pornography, particularly on the Internet. The measure would amend the definition of virtual child pornography to encompass computer-generated images that are "indistinguishable" from non-computer images. It also would distinguish between pre-pubescent and post-pubescent children. The sale or distribution of both real and virtual images involving the former would be barred, but sexually explicit images of post-pubescent minors would be barred only if prosecutors could prove that the images are of identifiable children. A competing Senate bill, S. 151, was introduced. Both measures were introduced in response to an April 16, 2002, Supreme Court ruling that the previous ban on "virtual" child pornography was unconstitutional.
H.R. 1706, Cyber Molesters Enforcement Act
Sponsor: Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn.
Introduced: April 9, 2003
Committees: House Judiciary; Transportation and Infrastructure
Description: H.R. 1706 would impose a 5- to 15-year sentence on people convicted of sexual abuse of a child stemming from Internet use. The bill would prevent the use of the Internet for: sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion; the sale of children; the importation of child pornography; and the transportation of children for the purpose of child porn.
H.R.2885, Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography (P4) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa.
Introduced: July 24, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2885 would mandate parental notification before minors could access file-sharing software because of the concerns about such software making it easier to access pornography. The bill would call upon the FTC to draft rules to warn people about the dangers of file-sharing software.
H. Con. Res. 88, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J.
Introduced: March 11, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H. Con. Res. 88 would express Congress' view that the Children's Internet Protection Act is constitutional as it applies to public libraries. The act requires libraries that receive federal money to incorporate Internet filters aimed at blocking access to online pornography and obscenity. The American Library Association, library patrons, Web publishers and others, however, have asked the Supreme Court to overturn the law.
H. Con. Res. 298, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla.
Introduced: Oct. 8, 2003
Committees: House Judiciary; Energy and Commerce
Description: H. Con. Res. 298 would state Congress' support for vigorous enforcement of federal obscenity laws; including laws regarding Internet pornography and its access to children. The measure was introduced in part because of the Supreme Court's April 2002 decision to overturn a law against "virtual" child porn.
H.J. Res. 65, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C.
Introduced: July 18, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.J. Res. 65 would propose a constitutional amendment to prohibit both actual and "virtual" child pornography. The amendment would apply to "visual depictions by any technological means of minor persons, whether actual or virtual, engaged in explicit sexual activity."

Senate

S. 151, Prosecutorial Remedies and Tools Against the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Introduced: Jan. 13, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 151 seeks to combat child pornography by making it a crime to sexually exploit children and distribute pornographic pictures of them. Developed in response to a Supreme Court Decision in May 2002 that overturned major portions of the existing law to curb child pornography. The bill would increase sentences for some offenses, and it would provide a new "victim shield" that conceals the names of children involved. It also would clarify that digital pictures would be covered by the bill, a step that lawmakers called important because of the use of digital cameras and camcorders. The Senate passed the bill on an 84-0 vote Feb. 24, 2003, and the Bush administration endorsed the measure in a statement issued the same day.
S. 404, Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act
Sponsor: Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.
Introduced: Feb. 13, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 404 would ban "child modeling" Web sites that show children in compromising positions. The prohibition would apply to sites such as www.lilamber.com and www.stacystarlet.com that allegedly exploit children as young as four by placing photos or video clips of them in sexually suggestive poses. Under the measure, sites could not charge fees to view models age 16 or younger or sell only photos or videos of the children they feature. A similar House bill, H.R. 756, was introduced.
S. 644, Comprehensive Child Protection Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Introduced: March 18, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 644 is designed to combat child crimes by addressing such issues as child pornography and child kidnapping. The bill would make "virtual" child pornography admissible as evidence and increase the categories of offenses that are included in the Combined DNA Index System (http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/index1.htm) to include all federal felonies. The federal wiretapping statute would be extended to cover suspicions of sex trafficking, sexual abuse, exploitation and other sex-related offenses, thus enabling investigators to obtain court authorization to monitor Internet communications. Other provisions would: extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting child sexual-abuse cases from 25 years to 35; allow prior offense of child molestation to be admitted as evidence; and prohibit common-law spouses from claiming spousal privilege when it comes to testifying.
S. 800, Truth in Domain Names Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Introduced: April 7, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 800 would impose fines and prison sentences of no more than four years for people who knowingly use misleading Internet addresses in order to expose minors to inappropriate material. Those who use such domains to lure adults to sites with obscene material also would face fines, but jail time would be dropped to no more than two years. Web sites with words such as "sex" or "porn" to indicate sexual content would not be considered misleading. Related language was included in a broader anti-crime bill, S. 151, that became law.
S. 810, Protecting Children against Crime Act
Sponsor: Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio
Introduced: April 8, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 810 would amend existing laws on crimes against children to include penalties for people who produce or distribute child pornography. The bill also would charge the National Research Council with researching whether Internet service providers could effectively monitor Internet traffic in order to find child porn sites, determine how often credit cards are used online to purchase porn, and research which credit-card issuers monitor such purchases and how such violations could most easily be reported to police. The measure also seeks to enhance the system for locating missing or abducted children. The AMBER Alert system -- short for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response -- is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted in Arlington, Texas, and later murdered.
S.885, Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act
Sponsor: Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Introduced: April 10, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 885 looks to protect children from crime and exploitation. Among other things, the bill would create penalties for people who use misleading domain names to lure children to sites featuring pornographic or obscene material. Child pornographers also would have to be listed in a national sex-offender registry available on the Internet. A related measure, S. 151, was signed into law.
S. Con. Res. 77, Untitled
Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions R-Ala.
Introduced: Oct. 28, 2003
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. Con. Res. 77 would express Congress’ support for the vigorous enforcement of federal obscenity laws. The resolution is particularly concerned with the spread of obscenity via the Internet. The Senate adopted the measure by voice vote Nov. 22, 2003.

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