Web Porn Labeling Proposal Approved

The Senate approved an amendment to a bill late Tuesday that would require Web site owners who include sexual content to place warning labels alerting vistors to the material. Failure to do so could result in a felony conviction with possible jail terms of up to five years.

A rating system would also be created by the Federal Trade Commission that would also be placed on sites with sexual content. Supporters of the bill say that such a procedure would prevent children from seeing indecent material inadvertently.

In order for the amendment to take effect, Congress must first pass the sweeping communications reform bill it is attached to.

The bill is the same one that net neutrality supporters have been attempting to modify to include provisions that mandate telecommunications companies do not charge for priority access to their Internet networks.

The amendment was brought to the floor by Montana Republican Senator Conrad Burns, and is similar to proposed legislation from Arizona Republican Senator John Kyl. John Kerry also plans to introduce a similar amendment, and both will be combined before a full floor vote.

However, support for the bill is far from unanimous. Some say the proposals are a direct violation of the First Amendment rights of the owners of the Web sites, which likely means any passed law would be challenged in court.