NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8688A
SPONSOR: Murray (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to
enacting the Internet Protection Act to protect a person's right to know
who is behind an anonymous internet posting
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To enact the Internet Protection Act
to provide reasonable protection to individuals from anonymous Internet
posters.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 contains definitions and
requires a website administrator, upon request to remove any comments
posted on his or her website by an anonymous poster, within 48 hours,
unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post
and confirms his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are
accurate. Also, requires website administrators to have a contact number
or e-mail address posted for removal requests, clearly visible in any
section where comments are posted. In addition, requires personal infor-
mation obtained by a web site administrator to remain confidential.
Section 2 contains the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION: Bullies are notorious for harassing and/or threatening
their victims face-to-face. However, modern technology now allows this
behavior to occur anonymously, from just about anywhere - at any time.
Using electronic communications devices, cyber bullies can post damaging
comments about a person on a website, while remaining anonymous and
difficult to trace. While cyber bullying is often committed by or
against children, it is by no means confined to children.
Anonymous postings on the internet not only can harm the persons or
businesses being directly victimized, but they also hurt the public in
general. When anonymous posters hide behind the interact to facilitate a
crime such as harassment) or as a vehicle for defamation, innocent men,
women and children are openly victimized, and the public is inten-
tionally mislead.
This legislation simply provides a means for the victim of an anonymous
posting on a website to request that such post be removed, unless the
anonymous poster is willing to attach his or her name to it.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:; None
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after
it shall have become a law.
