Senator demands info on search engine subpoena

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They're looking for accidental viewings..

...and that's why they need the search terms, and why they don't need the users' identities. From the brief:

Surveys show that 25% of minors between the ages of 10 and 17 who regularly use the Internet inadvertently viewed pornography in the prior year. Id. at 132-133. Of minors between the ages of 15 and 17, 70% have viewed pornography inadvertently. Id. at 133. The government has a compelling interest in addressing those serious problems.

What they're trying to show is inadvertent viewing. They don't need to verify the age of people doing the searching. What they want to show, for example, is that someone who does a search on "bambi" would come up with porn. (I did that search, and the only potentially "harmful to minors" content I found on the first page of results was a "Hunting for Bambi" site, where you can buy a video of naked women being "hunted" with a paintball gun.)

As for the adult id or credit cards: People routinely put their credit card information into all kinds of sites now (Amazon, BestBuy, etc, etc.) It's not that much of a hurdle. Could the government use such information against you? Sure, but they could do the same thing with any personal information.

But in the subpoena we're talking about, no such information is sought. With the information they're asking for, all they can do is compare search strings to what they turn up. That's it.

Posted by: bhartman36   Posted on: 01/28/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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