The U.S. House of Representatives approved overwhelmingly yesterday a bill providing that “anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including ‘obscene’ cartoons and drawings — or face fines of up to $300,000.”

It’s unclear from the story linked above whether the ISP, or the business offering a Wi-Fi connection to the ISP, or both, would be subject to the fines under the bill. The way it reads, someone who opens a coffee shop and provides a wireless router, or the many car dealer service waiting room with a wireless router, are suddenly subject to lots of worry, that is if the Senate concurs. It’s called the Securing Adolescents from Exploitation Online Act:

This is what the SAFE Act requires: Anyone providing an “electronic communication service” or “remote computing service” to the public who learns about the transmission or storage of information about certain illegal activities or an illegal image must (a) register their name, mailing address, phone number, and fax number with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “CyberTipline” and (b) “make a report” to the CyberTipline that (c) must include any information about the person or Internet address behind the suspect activity and (d) the illegal images themselves. (By the way, “electronic communications service” and “remote computing service” providers already have some reporting requirements under existing law too.)

Will this be an expensive regulation that will kill the Wi-Fi goose for everyone?

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds thinks about as much of this legislation as some of our commenters:

This is stupid, unworkable, and betrays a deep ignorance about how these things — especially wi-fi spots — actually work. Which makes it a fit product for this Congress. . . .