Archive for the 'Legislation' Category
Alicia’s Law
Alicia Kozakiewicz was abducted six years ago by a man she met online. For four days she was brutally raped and chained to his floor while he continued to go to work and bragged online about kidnapping a young girl. Finally a team of law enforcement officers specializing in cybercrime rescued her and arrested him.
The nineteen-year-old now spends much of her time making presentations about online safety and going to schools to warn others about online predators through her story. Last year she testified before congress, “Please support the children. Save us from pedophiles, the pornographers, the monsters. The boogeyman is real, and he lives on the Net. He lived on my computer, and he lives in yours. While you are sitting here, he’s at home with your children. . . . Task forces all over this country are poised to capture him, to put him in that prison cell with the man who hurt me. They can do it; they want to do it. Don’t you?”
Applause for MySpace Changes
The people behind MySpace are taking aim at cyber-bullies and online predators with their new regulations. Their goal is to try and help protect minors from some of the hazards they face online. Police, educators, legislator and parents are applauding the effort.
Although these regulations are only a small piece of the safety puzzle they may help. Parents must provide the majority of safety pieces with supervision, rules, and discussions with their little online users. But now parents have a hand from MySpace.
MySpace Finally Stepping Up
“Today we form a partnership that will protect children, purge predators, and expunge inappropriate content including pornography,” stated Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumentha.
The popular networking site MySpace has reached an agreement with 49 states. There goal was to try and improve safety online. Texas did not sign the agreement under protests that new security measures were inadequate.
Weak Laws Gaining Strength
Weak laws still exist in some states but hopefully that will change with the New Year. Prior to the turn of the year Perverted Justice rarely went after online pervs living in Oregon. When they did the prosecutors could only charge them with a misdemeanor so it wasn’t worth their time.
With Oregon’s new law going into effect online luring will become a felony offense. Raising the stakes for persecutor will allow the police and other agencies to focus their attention more on internet crimes.
Internet Restriction for Offenders
Since there is no Federal Laws influencing the rules of the internet and its online abuses, a few states are stepping up and making some guidelines. With technology moving at full speed our government has hardly had the time to catch up. Just a few states, like
NJ Law to Ban Internet for Predators
In New Jersey legislation is being made to limit Internet access for convicted sex offenders. The hope of this bill is that it prevents sex offenders from luring children into real life liaisons.
“No matter how much you trust your kids, no matter how much you think you know what they’re doing, there are some sick people out there that will stop at nothing to prey on them,” stated Senate President Richard Codey during the bill signing.
Outlawing Online Harassment of a Child
Stronger Penalties for Online Predators
Governor Matt Blunt, announced this week that “sexual predators in
This is just one of many states realizing the necessity of updating their laws to include the internet. Just a few years ago online enticement of a child wasn’t a criminal offense due to the dated wording of predator laws in many states.
Just this week the Online Child Safety Act passed in
Internet Safety Education Act of 2007
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports:
- A whopping 14 percent of teens have met in person with someone that was stranger before an online encounter.
- Two out of three teenagers who use the Internet have their own page on a social networking site.
These frightening statistics are bringing about a push for more legislation in Washington.
Headed by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Robert Menendez from New Jersey, the Internet Safety Education Act of 2007 is trying to help. It would provide ten million dollars for national, state, and local community programs to educate parents and teachers about how to be safe online. These free education programs would be a much needed tool in helping our children learn how to protect themselves.