The bill requires all Internet service providers to save their customers' IP addresses — or online identity numbers — for a year. The bill's stated purpose is to help police find child pornographers, but critics say that's just an excuse for another step toward Big Brother.
The number of successful child pornography prosecutions has skyrocketed in recent years. Prosecutors are hardly at a disadvantage, says forensic technologist Jeff Fischbach.
At the Center for Democracy and Technology, Nojeim wonders where it stops. If this passes, he says, then police may start pushing for another law, requiring websites to save their visitors' IP addresses, too. Even though there's a lot of opposition to this bill in both parties, he's concerned.
"Naming the bill like it was named makes it harder for people to vote against it, there's no question," he says.
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