Saturday, September 30, 2006

Utah consumer protection officials have cited four companies for sending
e-mail solicitations to minors for Web sites promoting gambling, alcohol and
pornography. It was the second time this year state investigators issued
citations under the state's controversial Child Protection Registry law,
which requires adult-oriented Web sites and e-mailers to screen out
addresses on the list from their distribution databases. Named in the
citations were DOS Media Now, an Encinitas, Calif., online gambling site
fined $5,000; Golden Arch Casinos, of Overland Park, Kan., fined $2,500;
Smoothbeer.com, a United Kingdom beer company fined $2,500; and
SoftestGirls.com, a Singapore company fined $20,000 for sending pornographic
e-mails to several minors. In January, the state issued its first, $2,500
citation under the statute to a Canadian online porn site for allegedly
sending a sexually explicit e-mail to registered minor's address. "This has
become a very serious problem," said Francine Giani, Commerce Department
executive director. "It's a big issue for us, but parents can play an
important role in this process, too, by knowing and being aware of what
their children are doing on the Internet." Utah's Child Protection Registry
took effect in mid-2005. While its primary selling point with legislators
was to combat pornography, it also is designed to protect registered minors
from content promoting alcohol, tobacco, gambling, firearms and drugs.
Both Utah and Michigan, which has a similar registry, link mass e- mailers
to Park City-based Unspam Technologies. The company charges a half-cent for
each address that is removed. The registry is free for schools, parents and
other guardians of minors to use. Commercial e-mailers argue that the
registry's time and cost are unfairly burdensome. The Free Speech
Coalition - a porn trade organization - is challenging the constitutionality
of the Utah law in U.S. District Court. Judge Dale Kimball has set a Nov. 9
hearing on the coalition's motion for an injunction, and the state's request
to dismiss the coalition's lawsuit. Jerome Mooney, a Salt Lake City attorney
representing the coalition, said Thursday he was surprised by the citations
when the statute itself is at issue.