Civil rights groups fight US anti-porn bill

NEWS A group of civil liberty organisations are set to challenge an online pornography amendment to the US government's omnibus spending bill. The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Privacy Information Centre and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are all opposed to restrictions on sexually explicit material on the Web. The $500bn appropriations bill will impose criminal penalties on commercial Web sites that allow anyone under 17 to view pornographic content. Guilty parties could also face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $50,000. Fighting for the rights of Internet users in the UK, Malcolm Hutty, director at the Campaign Against Censorship of the Internet in Britain, described the proposed bill as "dreadful". He added: "This once again shows the hypocrisy of members of congress." He went on to explain how astonished he is that an organisation that can put the Starr report on the Internet are the same set of people that want to stop anyone else doing the same. "After trying to get the Communications Decency Act through congress a year ago, and failing, they are trying to do the same again," he said.