i have to respond to one of pc_tool's comments below that i think deserves not to get lost in the comments.

kentuckians are stupid americans.

i know. i've lived here all my life.

you want to know why this law really was proposed? its because the liberal blogs are ripping the majority of the conservatives in the general assembly, democrats included for not taking their jobs seriously. these elected officials care about our state so much that they wasteEERRRRRRRRRRspend valuable legislative time on crucial items as naming small insignificant festivals a stone's throw from monkey's eybrow the official state whatever or a little rock i found in my backyard under a bush the official state rock found under a bush in a backyard. never mind we have pressing issues such as handling a state financial and educational crisis the previous governor left us. never mind how the state is trying to bar the state universities from allowing same sex partner benefits to their employees which cost the state NOTHING so those homophobe citizens aren't paying for it. we can't find the time for solving the real issues that are happening in kentucky. we have to preserve our own power and **** the common people in the state.

these are the same people who refuse to let the people of kentucky decide whether or not to allow casino gambling by putting the issue on the ballot for this november. keep in mind that this is the same state that makes its name on horse racing (gambling), has hosted the richest day in horse racing the breeders cup for i believe a record 7 times, hosts this little thing called THE KENTUCKY DERBY annually, has a state lottery and should this amendment pass would place those casinos at 7 tracks and a few freestanding places. its not going to hurt the horse industry. it's going to prop them up. but these people are so backwards in their thinking that they won't allow any of us to vote on the issue. mark twain was absolutely correct when he commented on kentucky.

i took a college class from a current state senator a few years ago and i think what he said rings true- we have 36 senators who think they're the governor. i'm sure the same is true in the house of representatives. don't worry, this issue isn't going to pass, but it's real bad that it was proposed and taken seriously to begin with.

Sounds like the folks in Kentucky need to learn how to vote.

They got themselves into that mess. Hopefully some day they'll vote themselves out of it...

we got too many backwards rednecks out in the state, i seriously doubt that will happen ever. perfect example: louisville is the largest city in the state. it provides the majority of tax dollars the state needs to run. not only do tax dollars for important things NOT return back here, but the state capitol hates us.

i wish i were kidding when i say that. we are better off being considered a separate state.

Sorry for the troll post, but OH MY? lol

And yea after looking into this more it seems PC_Tool is absolutely right. the people drafting this know beyond any doubt that this proposal will never happen. they simply are doing it for some press... A typical political move, kinda saying wouldn't it be nice if this were true, but it will never be.

Its a political move for more appeal to their constituents who in turn think the same way due o some recent tragedies that really had little to do with anonymity and more to do with personal cruelty. So in a since Its them saying These people are not nice so please refrain from adding to it. basically in a nice way telling parents to know what your kids are doing online. but saying it in a way so as not to tell the parents they are not doing what they should and thats really why it happened. LOL Typical Politics IMHO trying to tell you that you have no idea how to live your life.

What an absolutely ridiculous law - just unbelievable.

What's unbelievable is that while the story broke days ago and that it is already well known the author has no intentions of pushing this law, Ed still posted this story without even bothering to elude to that fact.

This isn't news, this is spam for the sake of hits. Nothing more.

Muhahahahahaha Oh god, forgive me but excuse me will I die on the floor laughing my a** off...

Exactly HOW are they going to enforce this farce of a concept.?

Freaking pansy asses... Come get me. I could use a trip out of my state free from all the ice and snow.. And if I get 2 sqr meals a day, all the better. Bring it. Time to live on the Kentucky tax payers dime!!

Case in point this is prob the Stupidest thing anyone anywhere ever thought of... Oh yea. Its Kentucky, What would you expect?

Sheesh.

WHAT EVER!!!

These are the same KENTUCKY religious wackos, who indicted a San Jose California woman, for showing her boobs on the internet. She wasn't violaing any law where she lived; but they actually tried her like a criminal in the wrong state.

Yes, it was some hick deputy DA trying to make a name for himself and get re-elected.

One city in Missouri tried to pass a stupid law just like this after a teenage girl committed suicide a few months ago.

The internet crosses state boundaries like radio and TV signals. The federal government decides which four lettered "F" words cannot be said on the airwaves. It ought to be the same way on line at the very least. Otherwise the end results will be a friging headache.

Trust the stupid Americans to make such a step "to curb bulling". It's just as bad as the escalator into a fitness center I once saw!

No offense btw.

"Stupid Americans"...

"No offense"?

Wow. Where are you from? I'd *love* to be able to call them all amoral twats ... without offending any of them, of course.

Tax money at work is all I have to say.

Grey

Im sure there are better ways to raise awareness than to drag it though the lawmaking process and waste valuable time that can be better used to introduce real laws.

Guys, not even the guy proposing this is stupid enough to believe this will pass, so statements like, "the only way this will work", or, "this guy must be stupid" are really rather moot.

He's doing it to make a statement...to raise awareness.

Sure as s*** there are better ways to do it, but it's not like even the author thinks it has a snowballs chance in hell.

So he just your typical autocratic prick wasting time and tax money on propaganda for lip service to the dumb masses instead of doing his job and getting the economy back on track.

To raise awareness...about internet bullying? Hey I have a pretty simple solution for that, it is called an ignore button. The only thing this does is make him look stupid; it doesn't raise awareness about anything because it isn't a problem. Like I said, someone most likely posted something about him that offended him and he's trying to use his position to make it illegal. Even if it were to raise awareness what is the point?

Besides, what he said was "the bill could be difficult to enforce if signed into law." That is a bit of a stretch to say he isn't stupid enough to believe it will pass. Trust me, he is. Uh oh, I hope he doesn't read that. He might try to outlaw Betanews!

Exactly!

See, that wasn't hard to figure out, was it? :)

Hey I have a pretty simple solution for that, it is called an ignore button.

Always partial to the "back" or "home" buttons myself, but....to each their own.

The only thing this does is make him look stupid; it doesn't raise awareness about anything because it isn't a problem. Like I said, someone most likely posted something about him that offended him...

That may indeed be why he's doing it, but he knows full well it will never become law.

Besides, what he said was "the bill could be difficult to enforce if signed into law."

That's one quote, from one source. More than one person has asked him and he has also stated he is certain the bill is not constitutional.

...it doesn't even take a moron to figure he knows where it's headed.

"That's one quote, from one source. More than one person has asked him and he has also stated he is certain the bill is not constitutional."

Yet this moron politician will spend thousand of tax dollars drafting a piece of USELESS legislation. He will waste the public's time and more of thier money arguing over an exercise in futility.

I don't live in Kentucky; so there is nothing they can do about me...

Ya know what?

Forget it.

This is apparently the reaction the BN staff is going for, so I'll just sit back and watch the idiocy.

Forget completely that this story was covered *days* ago by other sources and that it is already *well known* that the author has no intentions of actually making it into law.

Who needs context or logic?

The only real story here is of how much of a moron this guy is for proposing this. It has absolutely no chance of passing, and even if it did there is no way on earth to enforce it. I'm pretty sure it would be unconstitutional anyway. Somebody probably made fun of the guy on his blog or something and he threw a hissy fit and proposed this idiotic law. All he did was make a laughing stock of himself.

But hey, if it did pass at least the spammers would have a great time. Oh and every kid who posted on a message board would legally have to put down their real name and address. What could possibly go wrong?

"anyone who contributes to a Web site will have to submit a name, e-mail address, and mailing address."

How does this make sure that the 'poster' not be "anonymous?" Have not people post "fake" addresses or someone else's address. How will the web be able to verify the address? This would mean that before anyone can post you must give a credit card number. How on earth would the law be enforced? Kentucky does not own the web.

Lol. The only way they'll get this to work is if all of Kentucky's ISPs are forced to go through some sort of service that monitors all Internet activity like a hawk. That's a lot of tax dollars.

"anyone who contributes to a Web site will have to submit a name, e-mail address, and mailing address."

Is the "Couch" stupid or simply retarded?

Well, Drew Curtis pretty much sums him up here:

http://valleywag.com/366...-anonymous+comments-ban

Why didn't you tell us that he is the ex NFL quarterback? Getting knocked around and banging his helmet on the football fields resulted in BRAIN DAMAGE.

First is was Jack Kemp, Steve Largeant and JC Watts. Now we have ex Redskins QB Heath Schuler in the US Congress. We'd better outlaw thier dangerous games; before the NFL gives us more bran damaged politicians.

Hey, isn't Kentucky sen. Jim Bunning just another old fogey baseball hall of famer from the 60's too. I miss gov. Paul "the pothead" Patton already...

Why didn't you tell us that he is the ex NFL quarterback? Getting knocked around and banging his helmet on the football fields resulted in BRAIN DAMAGE.

not the same guy.

Sorry.

From Ars:

Couch—who says that he has been the victim of anonymous Internet criticism himself—acknowledges that the bill is probably unconstitutional and claims that his goal is to draw attention to Internet bullying, which he says is a serious concern for many young people in his district.

http://arstechnica.com/n...ous-posting-doomed.html

This is not intended to be a law and has exactly zero chance of ever becoming one.

Also, this has *nothing* to do with the First Amendment. Try the Fifth, perhaps?

*shakes head*

Sure, it's a dumb-as-dirt way to "raise awareness", but to imply it has any chance whatsoever at becoming law is just plain ludicrous. It will *never* become law, and the fool who wrote it admits as much. No "may" about it...

If it did pass you would be in deep do-do if you ever posted there. :)

More like Steve/Dave and his hundred screennames.