Attorney General Martha Coakley Teams with Chairman O'Flaherty and Other Legislators to Sponsor Bill to Protect Children From Online Predators
Bill adds electronic communications to definition of harmful material
"With the growth of the Internet and the changing ways that kids communicate with each other, predators are increasingly using those new technologies to attempt to harm our children," said Attorney General Coakley. "That is why we must continue to update our laws to keep up with today's technology and better protect our children," said Attorney General Coakley. "After last week's SJC decision, our legal team in the Cyber Crime Division worked with Chairman O'Flaherty to draft a bill that would address this issue head on. We will continue to work with the Legislature to identify what changes need to be made to our criminal statutes to ensure that we have the best and most advanced tools to protect our children from sexual predators on the Internet. We are pleased to work with Chairman O'Flaherty and other legislators to make the necessary updates to this statute so that Massachusetts can continue to be on the cutting edge of keeping our children safe."
"The recent decision by the Supreme Judicial Court in the Zubiel case underscores the need for legislation to be clear and concise. Therefore, the proposed legislation, worked on and filed with the Attorney General, seeks to clarify legislative intent by including the electronic transmission of obscene and lewd material. This legislation updates the statute by including 21st century modes of communication and I am grateful for the expertise of the Attorney General's Office which worked in conjunction with my office in crafting this legislation," said Chairman O'Flaherty.
An Act Further Defining the Dissemination of Obscene Material would amend Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272, Section 31, which provides the definition of what "matter" is considered harmful to minors, and therefore is illegal to disseminate to minors under the dissemination statute, General Laws Chapter 272, Section 28. Currently, the definition includes:
"any handwritten or printed material, visual representation, live performance or sound recording including but not limited to, books, magazines, motion picture films, pamphlets, phonographic records, pictures, photographs, figures, statues, plays, dances."
The legislation would update that definition by adding electronic communications, specifically:
"any electronic communication including but not limited to any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system."
Since taking office in January 2007, Attorney General Coakley has been an advocate for keeping our kids safe online and enhancing tools for cyber crime investigation and prosecution. Shortly after taking office, Attorney General Coakley established a dedicated Cyber Crime Division within the office's Criminal Bureau to lead the Attorney General's Cyber Crime Initiative. In late 2007, Attorney General Coakley unveiled "The Massachusetts Strategic Plan for Cyber Crime," designed to help the Commonwealth develop a statewide capacity to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes with a cyber component. The plan calls for law enforcement training, enhanced information sharing, the development of common operating procedures and standards, funding for cyber crime programs, and amending current law as it pertains to cyber crime. In 2008, Attorney General Coakley's Office led a 49-state coalition in reaching agreements with social networking giants MySpace and Facebook, whereby the sites are required to take significant steps to protect children using the sites from sexual predators. In September 2009, Attorney General Coakley opened a state-of-the-art Computer Forensics Lab in Boston, which is part of the Cyber Crime Initiative and is designed to develop a statewide capacity to deal with cyber crime and more efficiently process digital evidence that is present in virtually every investigation. In the past three years, the Attorney General's Office has provided cyber training for over 7,000 state and local law enforcement personnel from across the Commonwealth.
In addition to Attorney General Coakley and Chairman O'Flaherty, the Online Safety Act is also sponsored by:
Representative Geraldo Alicea
Representative Cory Atkins
Representative Jennifer Benson
Representative Daniel E. Bosley
Representative Garrett J. Bradley
Representative Linda Dean Campbell
Representative Katherine Clark
Representative Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera
Representative Steven J. D'Amico
Representative Stephen L. DiNitale
Representative Christopher J. Donelan
Representative James Dwyer
Representative Mark V. Falzone
Representative Robert F. Fennell
Representative John V. Fernandes
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante
Representative William C. Galvin
Representative Ann M. Gobi
Representative Danielle W. Gregoire
Representative Mary E. Grant
Representative Kate Hogan
Representative Louis L. Kafka
Representative John Keenan
Representative Peter V. Kocot
Representative Peter J. Koutoujian
Representative Stephen Kulik
Representative Jason Lewis
Representative David P. Linsky
Representative Barbara L'Italien
Representative Allen McCarthy
Representative James R. Miceli
Representative James M. Murphy
Representative Sarah K. Peake
Representative Vincent A. Pedone
Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch
Representative Karyn E. Polito
Representative Robert L. Rice, Jr.
Representative Pam Richardson
Representative John H. Rogers
Representative Jeffrey Sanchez
Representative Rosemary Sandlin
Representative John W. Scibak
Representative Frank I. Smizik
Representative Christopher N. Speranzo
Representative William M. Straus
Representative Cleon H. Turner
Representative James E. Vallee
Representative Brian P. Wallace
Representative James T. Welch
Representative Alice K. Wolf
##########