Mike Pence: “The Pence amendment will make it a criminal act to knowingly use a misleading domain name with the intent to deceive a…”

“The Pence amendment will make it a criminal act to knowingly use a misleading domain name with the intent to deceive a person into viewing obscenity on the Internet; and, most especially, it would make it a criminal act to knowingly use a misleading domain name with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material on the Internet that is harmful. Like many of the Members, I believe the Internet should remain free of regulation, Mr. Chairman. The Pence amendment is not regulation of the Internet. It is an anti-fraud bill. It does not prevent any material from being displayed on the Internet. In fact, a domain name that includes word or words to indicate sexual content on the site like the word 'sex' or 'porn' is by definition in this law not considered misleading. The amendment simply requires Web site owners to be honest about the content of their site, preventing families just like mine from surfing the Internet as their children do homework and all of a sudden finding themselves in a place of prurient and pornographic material.”