Here’s the latest Big Brother plan put forth under the guise of ferreting out child pornographers. Once again, good intentions — who doesn’t want to put an end to child pornographers — lead to misguided public policy.
The Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 was approved Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives, and will force internet service providers (ISPs) to keep logs of their customers for up to one year for police review.
CNET reports that the bill is intended to crack down on child pornography, and will include private information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank accounts and temporarily-assigned IP addresses, as well as a log of the websites you visit.
The approval is considered a major victory for House conservatives, who, in a 19 to 10 committee vote, have fought fervently in favor of data retention.
Numerous reports assert that pornography cases throughout the United States are on the rise, with the U.S. Department of Justice stating that prosecutions are up 40% since 2006, resulting in roughly 9,000 cases.
