SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has responded strongly against a lawsuit aiming to dismantle a new state registry that protects children on the Internet.
The head of Utah’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force is claiming that a passed in March already has yielded the closure of 155 websites containing child pornography. Technically, however, the ICAC hasn’t shut down the sites — it has made it difficult for them to make any money.
A coalition group has filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of a Utah law that would require ISPs to rank website content, publish a register of sites considered “harmful to minors” and block access to websites upon a customer’s request.
Utah’s attorney general has paused implementation of a controversial law that would require Internet service providers to block access to adult websites and provide filtering software upon a customer’s request.
Gov. Jon Huntsman yesterday signed into law a bill that requires content providers to rate the material on their sites and authorities to compile what critics are calling a blacklist of adult sites.
A new bill facing close scrutiny by the Utah Legislature’s Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel calls for public service announcements warning Utah citizens about “the dangers of the Internet,” and also provide for the creation of a state-controlled adult content registry.
Seeking to answer whether a link exists between porn use and crime, a Northern Utah sheriff’s department has decided to begin keeping records, XBiz learned Monday. The department is currently working to develop a set of criteria for when pornography should be documented.
Utah, the first state to pass a law regulating spyware and other advertising software, is facing a court challenge from online advertising company When U, which says the new law set to begin May 3 violates free-speech guarantees and could unfairly harm its business.
Utah became the first state in the nation to pass a law this week regulating spyware and other advertising software. But industry groups are outraged, saying the law that could affect online adult businesses may become a model for other states to follow.
