Are You Annoying? Go Straight to Jail in the U.S.

Ahh, that Big Brother. What will he think of next? According to Declan McCullagh,

It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity... Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called "Preventing Cyberstalking." It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet "without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

The problematic text (which would likely not withstand a First Amendment challenge) says,

Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Down on the ranch, I hear-tell they's asayin' "That's one way of takin' care-a those annoying folks on them Internets..."

[Technorati tags: annoy | bush]