STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6779
IN SENATE
March 21, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sen. O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to protecting a
person's right to know who is behind an anonymous internet posting
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil rights law, is amended by adding a new section
2 79-o to read as follows:
3 § 79-o. Anonymous Internet poster; right to know. 1. Definitions. As
4 used in this section, the following words and terms shall have the
5 following meanings:
6 (a) Anonymous poster is any individual who posts a message on a web
7 site including social networks, blogs forums, message boards or any
8 other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of
9 posted messages.
10 (b) "Web site administrator" means any person or entity that is
11 responsible for maintaining a web site or managing the content or devel-
12 opment of information provided on a web site including social networks,
13 blogs forums, message boards or any other discussion site where people
14 can hold conversations in the form of posted messages, accessible via a
15 network such as the Internet or a private local area network.
16 (c) "Internet" means the global system of interconnected computer
17 networks that use the Internet Protocol.
18 (d) "Internet Protocol address" or "IP address" means a numerical
19 label assigned to each computer or device participating in a computer
20 network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.
21 2. A web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments
22 posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless such anony-
23 mous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms
24 that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.
25 All web site administrators shall have a contact number or e-mail
26 address posted for such removal requests, clearly visible in any
27 sections where comments are posted.
28 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
29 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13459-02-1
