S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
6779
I N S E N A T E
March 21, 2012
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Introduced by Sen. O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to protecting a
person's right to know who is behind an anonymous internet posting
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The civil rights law, is amended by adding a new section
79-o to read as follows:
S 79-O. ANONYMOUS INTERNET POSTER; RIGHT TO KNOW. 1. DEFINITIONS. AS
USED IN THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING WORDS AND TERMS SHALL HAVE THE
FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
(A) ANONYMOUS POSTER IS ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO POSTS A MESSAGE ON A WEB
SITE INCLUDING SOCIAL NETWORKS, BLOGS FORUMS, MESSAGE BOARDS OR ANY
OTHER DISCUSSION SITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS IN THE FORM OF
POSTED MESSAGES.
(B) "WEB SITE ADMINISTRATOR" MEANS ANY PERSON OR ENTITY THAT IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING A WEB SITE OR MANAGING THE CONTENT OR DEVEL-
OPMENT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED ON A WEB SITE INCLUDING SOCIAL NETWORKS,
BLOGS FORUMS, MESSAGE BOARDS OR ANY OTHER DISCUSSION SITE WHERE PEOPLE
CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS IN THE FORM OF POSTED MESSAGES, ACCESSIBLE VIA A
NETWORK SUCH AS THE INTERNET OR A PRIVATE LOCAL AREA NETWORK.
(C) "INTERNET" MEANS THE GLOBAL SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED COMPUTER
NETWORKS THAT USE THE INTERNET PROTOCOL.
(D) "INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS" OR "IP ADDRESS" MEANS A NUMERICAL
LABEL ASSIGNED TO EACH COMPUTER OR DEVICE PARTICIPATING IN A COMPUTER
NETWORK THAT USES THE INTERNET PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICATION.
2. A WEB SITE ADMINISTRATOR UPON REQUEST SHALL REMOVE ANY COMMENTS
POSTED ON HIS OR HER WEB SITE BY AN ANONYMOUS POSTER UNLESS SUCH ANONY-
MOUS POSTER AGREES TO ATTACH HIS OR HER NAME TO THE POST AND CONFIRMS
THAT HIS OR HER IP ADDRESS, LEGAL NAME, AND HOME ADDRESS ARE ACCURATE.
ALL WEB SITE ADMINISTRATORS SHALL HAVE A CONTACT NUMBER OR E-MAIL
ADDRESS POSTED FOR SUCH REMOVAL REQUESTS, CLEARLY VISIBLE IN ANY
SECTIONS WHERE COMMENTS ARE POSTED.
S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13459-02-1