Internet Identifiers and the constitution
Laws are having a difficult time catching up with the times and when legislators try to create legislation to update them, sometimes their ignorance of technology creates more problems than the laws are intended to solve.
Take for example the change to the definition of “internet identifiers” that will become effective in Florida this coming October. The new law requires registered citizens to register each URL they communicate through… Not every username they post under or every domain name… but every URL.
This very domain; floridaactioncommittee.org, has almost 900 urls. Every posting is a different URL. This article is found at the URL http://floridaactioncommittee.org/internet-identifiers-and-the-constitution, for example. Someone who is a regular contributor to our forum would conceivably have to register hundreds of URLs under the “floridaactioncommittee.org” domain and do so daily, in advance of use, or risk a third degree FELONY!
At the risk of years in jail for innocently forgetting to register a perfectly legal comment in our forum (or simply to avoid the hassle), many registrants will simply elect to forego commenting or contributing to floridaactioncommittee.org and that will dramatically impair our ability to disseminate and exchange information – which is one of our missions.
This is what is called “chilling” free speech and it’s one of the arguments in our Internet Identifier challenge that is forthcoming. Not only will the new laws impede your ability to participate in discussions on our site, but on most any site. For those whose jobs require it (nowadays which jobs don’t) it will impede your ability to work. With social media and electronic communication long having replaced letter writing, it also impedes your ability to communicate with family and friends.
These laws don’t just serve to impede illegal online communication – but ALL online communication. While narrow exceptions are carved out for banking and retail, exceptions are not carved out for familial correspondence, employment or any of the thousands of other reasons someone might want or need to communicate in the modern world.
The new law is so brazen that it expressly states, “including anonymous speech”. So your ability (and constitutional right) to comment anonymously to this article saying ‘you think the law is baloney and legislators are idiots for passing it’ is blown, because you will now have to list your identity and the URL you posted to (and the legislators will teach you not to call them idiots anymore in the form of more frequent “compliance checks” or other retaliation).
Keeping up with the times and crafting laws that are constitutionally sound requires a more than basic understanding of technology, otherwise a floodgate of litigation will inevitably follow.
Stay tuned for an update on our litigation…
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I do indeed hope to hear more about your litigation.
One of the things that concerns me is that, given the way the web works these days, can I commit a felony without even knowing it? Should I post something, have it noticed by someone who likes it, then have it shared by that person, and have my post end up on a different URL than I had registered all without my knowledge, does that constitute a violation? And do I have the funds and fortitude to argue that it doesn’t when I get arrested for it?
Just want to point out also, for those that are going to have to abide by this crap, those popular ‘slideshow’ articles have a separate URL for each slide….
Wow it’s getting beyond silly…so far beyond silly its like they WANT all the silly laws to come crashing down. I suppose we could thank them for the inevitable destruction of all RSO laws. 🙂
and this
http://nationalrsol.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Judge-Beatty-Memorandum-Opinion-and-Order.pdf
look at this, this may help
http://nationalrsol.org/blog/2016/04/27/federal-court-guts-nc-premises-statute-permanently-enjoins-prosecution/
I just want to know who is going to enforce this?? Probation officers are so overloaded now they can’t even keep up with just their daily routine functions. And detectives have bluntly told me they have better things to do and worry about technical violations of registered citizens, especially here in Jacksonville where gun crime, break ins, and gang violence are the norm. And the other thing is, is this retroactive, or does it just apply to people arrested after Oct 2016?
They want facebook, twitter, any chat services you use, email all social networking must be registered. The URL are referring to Internet Identifier that you are registered and use. Not every website you visit or comment on.
You are incorrect, JV. Effective October 2016 you will be required to register every URL you comment on.
so to clarify, are they saying by law you have to report and register every single url you go to everyday you use your computer? Wouldnt that mean you basically would be registering your visits every single day?How would they be able to monitor every single place you go, come to your house and look at your computer? And if so they would need a warrant to have access to your computer? Just wondering how this would be able to be enforced. And does it apply to people convicted after oct. 2016?
Every URL you communicate through – not visit – just communicate.
It applies to every registrant. Not sure how it will be enforced, but if caught, it will be grounds to charge someone with a felony.
so if i order something on the internet it might while i’m browsing when i lick the next page button i’m in effect communicating with that website. any click or any text that you view on your computer you are technically communicating. very vague law unless it goes into great detail on exactly what is considered communicating. when i order something and make an account just to order one time, then when i actually order, then when i confirm the order, then when i provide feedback or a review on that order, etc…