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
                                      ___________

       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:

    1    Section 1. The civil rights law, is amended by adding  a  new  section
    2  79-o to read as follows:
    3    S  79-O.  ANONYMOUS INTERNET POSTER; RIGHT TO KNOW. 1. DEFINITIONS. AS
    4  USED IN THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING  WORDS  AND  TERMS  SHALL  HAVE  THE
    5  FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
    6    (A)  ANONYMOUS  POSTER  IS ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO POSTS A MESSAGE ON A WEB
    7  SITE INCLUDING SOCIAL NETWORKS, BLOGS  FORUMS,  MESSAGE  BOARDS  OR  ANY
    8  OTHER DISCUSSION SITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS IN THE FORM OF
    9  POSTED MESSAGES.
   10    (B)  "WEB  SITE  ADMINISTRATOR"  MEANS  ANY  PERSON  OR ENTITY THAT IS
   11  RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING A WEB SITE OR MANAGING THE CONTENT OR DEVEL-
   12  OPMENT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED ON A WEB SITE INCLUDING SOCIAL  NETWORKS,
   13  BLOGS  FORUMS,  MESSAGE BOARDS OR ANY OTHER DISCUSSION SITE WHERE PEOPLE
   14  CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS IN THE FORM OF POSTED MESSAGES, ACCESSIBLE VIA  A
   15  NETWORK SUCH AS THE INTERNET OR A PRIVATE LOCAL AREA NETWORK.
   16    (C)  "INTERNET"  MEANS  THE  GLOBAL  SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED COMPUTER
   17  NETWORKS THAT USE THE INTERNET PROTOCOL.
   18    (D) "INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS" OR  "IP  ADDRESS"  MEANS  A  NUMERICAL
   19  LABEL  ASSIGNED  TO  EACH COMPUTER OR DEVICE PARTICIPATING IN A COMPUTER
   20  NETWORK THAT USES THE INTERNET PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICATION.
   21    2. A WEB SITE ADMINISTRATOR UPON REQUEST  SHALL  REMOVE  ANY  COMMENTS
   22  POSTED  ON HIS OR HER WEB SITE BY AN ANONYMOUS POSTER UNLESS SUCH ANONY-
   23  MOUS POSTER AGREES TO ATTACH HIS OR HER NAME TO THE  POST  AND  CONFIRMS
   24  THAT  HIS  OR HER IP ADDRESS, LEGAL NAME, AND HOME ADDRESS ARE ACCURATE.
   25  ALL WEB SITE ADMINISTRATORS  SHALL  HAVE  A  CONTACT  NUMBER  OR  E-MAIL
   26  ADDRESS  POSTED  FOR  SUCH  REMOVAL  REQUESTS,  CLEARLY  VISIBLE  IN ANY
   27  SECTIONS WHERE COMMENTS ARE POSTED.
   28    S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
   29  have become a law.

        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD13459-02-1