January 4th, 2007
Deleting Online Predators Act: R.I.P.
It looks like the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) has died a slow death. DOPA was proposed during the height of last year's moral panic around the issue of child safety and sites like MySpace. The legislation would have banned the use of commercial social networking websites in US schools and libraries which receive federal IT funding — therefore undermining much of the pioneering work being done by educators in the e-learning 2.0 space.
A "commercial social networking website" was defined by the act as any web service that:
"…allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger."
Despite opposition from teachers, librarians, internet activists (and a few politicians), DOPA was passed in the House of Representatives and moved up to the Senate. Then what happened?
…something quite unexpected happened: nothing. With all the criticism being lobbed by the blogosphere and the media, DOPA found itself among a group of skeptical senators who were in no rush to pass the legislation.
To make matters worse (for supporters of the act) the Mark Foley scandal took place. Followed by a number of the act's main sponsors losing their seats.
But the final nail in DOPA’s coffin came with the switch of Congress from Republican to Democrat. Legislation that doesn’t get signed into law by the end of a congressional term has to start from scratch during the next term. In January, the Democrats will be in charge of both houses of Congress, and there’s no sign that they’re going to rush and re-introduce DOPA.
It's very unlikely that we will ever see DOPA return in its current form, and hopefully, if the issue arises again in the future (which is may well do) any new legislation will be better written and more sensibly debated than DOPA ever was. Having said that, much of the damage that would have been caused by DOPA has already happened, as many school districts routinely block access to much of the social web.
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
