DOPA Is Dead
RSSSLJ staff -- School Library Journal, 01/09/2007
Kids and librarians will be pleased to know that the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) has died. The bill, introduced last May by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) as a way to protect kids from online sexual predators and smut, would have required schools and libraries that receive federal Internet subsidies to block children from accessing social networking sites like MySpace and Friendster, as well as instant messages, e-mail, wikis, and blogs.
DOPA, which was introduced at the height of the media frenzy over predators on MySpace, passed the House in July 2006, but has since languished in the Senate. DOPA’s fate was determinedin late December because it was never addressed by the Senate. And legislation that doesn’t get signed into law by the end of the year has to be reintroduced the next term, which is unlikely to happen.
The American Library Association has criticized DOPA as being overly broad and as written “would block access to many valuable Web sites that utilize this type of communication, Web sites whose benefits outweigh their detriments.”
