ISPs Seek Exemption From NH Age-Verification Bill; Sponsor Drops PRA
A proposed private right of action will be removed from a New Hampshire age-verification bill that seeks to restrict children’s access to porn, said its sponsor, Sen. Tara Reardon (D), at a livestreamed state Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Reardon said her planned amendment to SB-648 would also allow companies to assert rights under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
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Still, ISPs that merely provide access to websites want to be exempted from the bill, testified Maura Weston, a lobbyist for the New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association. NECTA appreciates the bill’s kid safety goal, but it's “a bit ambiguous” about an ISP’s role, said Weston: For legal and technical reasons, ISPs "generally" can't "see or know which sites users are visiting or the content that they're viewing."
Internet providers might not be the only ones seeking carve-outs. Reardon told the committee there "are lots and lots of people that would like to be exempted from this.”
Removing the private right of action might alleviate 99% of booksellers’ concerns, said Michael Herrmann, owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire. He had feared that the bill, as originally written, would lead to frivolous lawsuits against bookshops by people who believe books like Lolita are pornography, he said.
However, Sen. Debra Altschiller (D) questioned how effective SB-648 would be at accomplishing its goal. "Where I'm struggling ... is trying to figure out how you bail out a cruise ship with a thimble."