Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share a post I've written for my PBS column on the slow
death of the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which would have
required US schools and libraries receiving federal Internet subsidies
to block access to online social networks.
Some highlights:
For a time, it seemed that DOPA would inevitably reach the president’s
desk. Surely the overwhelming support of the House would be reflected in
the Senate, one might have surmised. But then, something quite
unexpected happened: nothing. With all the criticism being lobbed by the
blogosphere and the media, DOPA found itself among a group of skeptical
senators who were in no rush to pass the legislation. After it passed
the House, influential Senator Patrick Leahy expressed concerns with
DOPA, and media reports suggested he would take a long, hard look at the
bill, effectively slowing it down. Individual senators have greater
power than House members to slow legislative processes, and critics like
Leahy could choose to take advantage of this.
Complicating matters was the Mark Foley scandal. Even though he wasn’t
a co-sponsor of DOPA, Rep. Foley was a close associate of Mike
Fitzpatrick, the congressman who introduced it. The two of them had also
drafted another piece of legislation called the Internet Stopping Adults
Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act, or SAFETY. Though
the SAFETY Act was less controversial than DOPA, its association with
Foley probably didn’t help it when he was caught sending inappropriate
emails to House pages. The bill was never even placed for debate.
Suddenly, even well-meaning online safety bills were seen as
hypocritical, making them a political hot potato as long as the Foley
scandal raged.
Meanwhile, Rep. Fitzpatrick was finding himself in a close re-election
race back home, giving him less time to lobby his Senate colleagues in
support of DOPA. It turned out his efforts were futile - Fitzpatrick
lost his re-election bid in November. He wasn’t alone. Three of DOPA’s
co-sponsors - JD Hayworth, Sue Kelly and Curt Weldon - also lost their
re-election bids.
Read more here:
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/2006/12/dopa_dies_on_the_vine.html
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Andy Carvin
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com
http://www.andycarvin.com
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.pbs.org/learningnow
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