II 

Calendar No. 706 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 431 

To require convicted sex offenders to register online identifiers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2007 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. STEVENS, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. 

GRASSLEY, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. SPECTER, Mrs. CLINTON, Ms. LANDRIEU, 

Mr. KYL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. KERRY, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

APRIL 22, 2008 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require convicted sex offenders to register online 

identifiers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping the Internet 

3 Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘KIDS 

4 Act of 2007’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION OF ONLINE IDENTIFIERS OF SEX 

6 OFFENDERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 114(a) of the Sex Of8 fender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 16914(a)) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

11 (7) as paragraphs (5) through (8); and 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(4) Any electronic mail address, instant mes15 sage address, or other similar Internet identifier the 

16 sex offender used or will use to communicate over 

17 the Internet. 

18 ‘‘(4) Any electronic mail address, instant mes19 sage address, or other designation the sex offender uses 

20 or will use for self-identification or routing in an 

21 Internet communication or posting.’’. 

22 (b) UPDATING OF INFORMATION.—Section 113(c) of 

23 the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 16913(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and before any 

25 use of an electronic mail address, instant message address, 

26 or other similar Internet identifier not provided under subVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:21 Apr 23, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.RS S431

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1 section (b) by the sex offender to communicate over the 

2 Internet, or other designation used for self-identification or 

3 routing in an Internet communication or posting that is 

4 not included in the sex offender’s registration information,’’ 

5 after ‘‘or student status,’’. 

6 (c) FAILURE TO REGISTER ONLINE IDENTIFIERS.— 

7 Section 2250 of title 18, United States Code, is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘or (d)’’ after 

10 ‘‘subsection (a)’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) KNOWING FAILURE TO REGISTER ONLINE

13 IDENTIFIERS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

15 person who is required to register under the Sex Of16 fender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 16901 et seq.) to knowingly fail to provide an elec18 tronic mail address, instant message address, or 

19 other similar Internet identifier used by that person 

20 to communicate over the Internet address, instant 

21 message address, or other designation used for self22 identification or routing in an Internet communica23 tion or posting to the appropriate official for inclu24 sion in the sex offender registry, as required under 

25 that Act. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para2 graph (1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

3 not more than 10 years, or both.’’. 

4 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT; DIRECTIVE TO UNITED

5 STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.—Section 141(b) of the 

6 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Pub7 lic Law 109–248; 120 Stat. 602) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘offense specified in subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘offenses 

9 specified in subsections (a) and (d) of section 2250 of title 

10 18, United States Code’’. 

11 SEC. 3. RELEASE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESSES, IN12 STANT MESSAGE ADDRESSES, OR OTHER 

13 SIMILAR INTERNET IDENTIFIERS. 

14 (a) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Section 118(b) of the Sex Of15 fender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 16918(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para20 graph (5); and 

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(4) any electronic mail address, instant mes24 sage address, or other similar Internet identifier 

25 used by the sex offender; and’’. 


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1 (b) NATIONAL REGISTRY.—Section 119 of the Sex 

2 Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 16919) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) RELEASE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESSES, 

5 INSTANT MESSAGE ADDRESSES, OR OTHER SIMILAR

6 INTERNET IDENTIFIERS TO COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NET7 WORKING WEBSITE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

9 maintain a system allowing a commercial social net10 working website to compare the database of reg11 istered users of that commercial social networking 

12 website to the list of electronic mail addresses, in13 stant message addresses, and other similar Internet 

14 identifiers of persons in the National Sex Offender 

15 Registry. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROCESS FOR RELEASE OF ELECTRONIC

17 MAIL ADDRESSES, INSTANT MESSAGE ADDRESSES, 

18 OR OTHER SIMILAR INTERNET IDENTIFIERS.—A 

19 commercial social networking website desiring to 

20 compare its database of registered users to the list 

21 of electronic mail addresses, instant messages, and 

22 other similar Internet identifiers of persons in the 

23 National Sex Offender Registry shall provide to the 

24 Attorney General— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and telephone 

2 number of the commercial social networking 

3 website; 

4 ‘‘(B) the specific legal nature and cor5 porate status of the commercial social net6 working website; 

7 ‘‘(C) an affirmation signed by the chief 

8 legal officer of the commercial social networking 

9 website that the information obtained from that 

10 database shall not be disclosed for any purpose 

11 other than for comparing the database of reg12 istered users of that commercial social net13 working website against the list of electronic 

14 mail addresses, instant message addresses, and 

15 other similar Internet identifiers of persons in 

16 the National Sex Offender Registry to protect 

17 children individuals from online sexual preda18 tors and that disclosure of this information for 

19 purposes other than those under this section 

20 may be unlawful; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the name, address, and telephone 

22 number of a natural person who consents to 

23 service of process for the commercial social net24 working website. 


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1 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATABASE.—After a commercial 

2 social networking website has complied with para3 graph (2) and paid any fee established by the Attor4 ney General, the commercial social networking 

5 website may screen new users or compare its data6 base of registered users to the list of electronic mail 

7 addresses, instant message addresses, and other 

8 similar Internet identifiers of persons in the Na9 tional Sex Offender Registry as frequently as the At10 torney General may allow for the purpose of identi11 fying a registered user associated with an electronic 

12 mail address, instant message address, or other 

13 similar Internet identifier contained in the National 

14 Sex Offender Registry. 

15 ‘‘(4) LIABILITY RELIEF FOR SOCIAL NET16 WORKING SITES USING THE REGISTRY INFORMATION

17 TO PROTECT USERS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a commercial social 

19 networking website complies with this section, a 

20 covered civil action against that commercial so21 cial networking website or any director, officer, 

22 employee, or agent of that commercial social 

23 networking website may not be brought in any 

24 Federal or State court. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

2 term ‘covered civil action’ means a civil action 

3 relating to the use of the information in the 

4 National Sex Offender Registry by a commer5 cial social networking website to screen users or 

6 compare its database of registered users for the 

7 purpose of identifying a registered user associ8 ated with an electronic mail address, instant 

9 message address, or other similar Internet iden10 tifier information contained in the National Sex 

11 Offender Registry. 

12 ‘‘(5) INTERIM PERIOD.—In any interim period 

13 before the National Sex Offender Registry is imple14 mented, any commercial social networking website 

15 shall have access to the electronic mail addresses, in16 stant message addresses, and other similar Internet 

17 identifiers of persons required to register in a juris18 diction’s sex offender registry through the methods 

19 set forth in paragraphs (2) and (3). Until such time 

20 as the National Sex Offender Registry is imple21 mented, the term ‘Attorney General’ shall be re22 placed with ‘the jurisdiction’ and the term ‘the Na23 tional Sex Offender Registry’ shall be replaced with 

24 ‘a jurisdiction’s sex offender registry’ in paragraphs 

25 (2) and (3).’’. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON RELEASE OF INTERNET

2 IDENTIFIERS.—Except as explicitly provided for in 

3 this section or for a necessary law enforcement pur4 pose, the Attorney General may not authorize the re5 lease or dissemination of any Internet identifier con6 tained in the National Sex Offender Registry. 

7 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A civil claim against a 

9 commercial social networking website, including 

10 any director, officer, employee, or agent of that 

11 commercial social networking website, arising 

12 from the use by such website of the National Sex 

13 Offender Registry, may not be brought in any 

14 Federal or State court. 

15 ‘‘(B) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER

16 MISCONDUCT.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

17 a claim if the commercial social networking 

18 website, or a director, officer, employee, or agent 

19 of that commercial social networking website— 

20 ‘‘(i) engaged in intentional mis21 conduct; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) acted, or failed to act— 

23 ‘‘(I) with actual malice; 


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1 ‘‘(II) with reckless disregard to a 

2 substantial risk of causing injury with3 out legal justification; or 

4 ‘‘(III) for a purpose unrelated to 

5 the performance of any responsibility 

6 or function described in paragraph (3). 

7 ‘‘(C) ORDINARY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES.— 

8 Subsection (a) shall not apply to an act or omis9 sion to act relating to an ordinary business ac10 tivity of any commercial social networking 

11 website, including to any acts related to the gen12 eral administration or operations of such 

13 website, the use of motor vehicles by employees or 

14 agents of such website, or any personnel manage15 ment decisions of such websites. 

16 ‘‘(D) MINIMIZING ACCESS.—A commercial 

17 social networking website shall minimize the 

18 number of employees that are provided access to 

19 the list of electronic mail addresses, instant mes20 sage addresses, and other similar Internet identi21 fiers of persons in the National Sex Offender 

22 Registry. 

23 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing is this 

24 section shall be construed to require any Internet 

25 website, including a commercial social networking 


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1 website, to compare its database of registered users 

2 with the list of electronic mail addresses, instant mes3 sage addresses, and other similar Internet identifiers 

4 of persons in the National Sex Offender Registry, and 

5 no Federal or State liability, or any other actionable 

6 adverse consequence, shall be imposed on such website 

7 based on its decision not to compare its database with 

8 such list.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 Section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and No11 tification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (7)(H), by striking the period 

13 and inserting the following: ‘‘, except that it shall 

14 not be necessary to show that the sexual conduct ac15 tually occurred or to offer proof that the defendant 

16 engaged in an act, other than use of the Internet to 

17 facilitate criminal sexual conduct involving a 

18 minor.’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(15) The term ‘commercial social networking 

22 website’ means a commercially operated Internet 

23 website that— 

24 ‘‘(A) allows users to create web pages or 

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1 selves and are available publicly or to other 

2 users; and 

3 ‘‘(A) allows users, through the creation of 

4 web pages or profiles or by other means, to pro5 vide information about themselves that is avail6 able publicly or to other users; and 

7 ‘‘(B) offers a mechanism for communica8 tion with other users, such as a forum, chat 

9 room, electronic mail, or instant messenger. 

10 ‘‘(16) The term ‘chat room’ means any Internet 

11 website through which a number of users can com12 municate in real time via text and that allows mes13 sages to be almost immediately visible to all other 

14 users or to a designated segment of all other users. 

15 ‘‘(16) The term ‘chat room’ means any Internet 

16 service through which a number of users can commu17 nicate in real time so that communications are al18 most immediately available to all other users or to a 

19 designated segment of all other users. 

20 ‘‘(17) The term ‘Internet’ has the meaning 

21 given that term in section 1101 of the Internet Tax 

22 Freedom Act (47 U.S.C. 151 note). 

23 ‘‘(18) The term ‘electronic mail address’ has 

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1 trolling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography 

2 and Marketing Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7702). 

3 ‘‘(19) The term ‘instant message address’ 

4 means an identifier that allows a person to commu5 nication communicate in real-time with another per6 son using the Internet.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. CRIMINALIZATION OF AGE MISREPRESENTATION IN 

8 CONNECTION WITH ONLINE SOLICITATION 

9 OF A MINOR. 

10 Section 2252C of title 18, United States Code, is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

13 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(c) AGE MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person 18 

17 years or older who knowingly misrepresents their age with 

18 the intent to use the Internet to engage in criminal sexual 

19 conduct involving a minor, or to facilitate or attempt such 

20 conduct, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for 

21 not more than 20 years. Such penalty shall be in addition 

22 to any penalty pursuant to the laws of any jurisdiction 

23 for the crime of using the Internet to engage in criminal 

24 sexual conduct involving a minor, or to facilitate or at25 tempt such conduct.’’. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AGE OF MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person 18 

2 years or older who knowingly misrepresents his or her age 

3 with the intent to use the Internet, to operate a facility, 

4 by mail, or by any other means of interstate or foreign com5 merce to engage in criminal sexual conduct involving a 

6 minor who is at least 4 years younger than the person en7 gaging in such conduct, or to facilitate or attempt such con8 duct, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not 

9 more than 20 years. Such penalty shall be in addition to 

10 any penalty pursuant to the laws of any jurisdiction for 

11 the crime of using the Internet to engage in criminal sexual 

12 conduct involving a minor, or to facilitate or attempt such 

13 conduct.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. KNOWINGLY ACCESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY 

15 WITH THE INTENT TO WATCH CHILD POR16 NOGRAPHY. 

17 (a) MATERIALS INVOLVING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF

18 MINORS.—Section 2252(a)(4) of title 18, United States 

19 Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or 

21 knowingly accesses with intent to view,’’ after ‘‘pos22 sesses’’; and 

23 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, or 

24 knowingly accesses with intent to view,’’ after ‘‘pos25 sesses’’. 


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1 (b) MATERIALS CONSTITUTING OR CONTAINING CHILD

2 PORNOGRAPHY.—Section 2252A(a)(5) of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or 

5 knowingly accesses with intent to view,’’ after ‘‘pos6 sesses’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, or 

8 knowingly accesses with intent to view,’’ after ‘‘pos9 sesses’’. 

10 SEC. 7. CLARIFYING BAN OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, United 

12 States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in section 2251— 

14 (A) in each of subsections (a), (b), and (d), 

15 by inserting ‘‘using any means or facility of 

16 interstate or foreign commerce or’’ after ‘‘be 

17 transported’’; 

18 (B) in each of subsections (a) and (b), by 

19 inserting ‘‘using any means or facility of inter20 state or foreign commerce or’’ after ‘‘been trans21 ported’’; and 

22 (C) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘using 

23 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 

24 commerce or’’ after ‘‘is transported’’; 


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1 (2) in section 2251A(c), by inserting ‘‘using any 

2 means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce 

3 or’’ after ‘‘or transported’’; 

4 (3) in section 2252(a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘using 

6 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 

7 commerce or’’ after ‘‘ships’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘using any means or 

10 facility of interstate or foreign commerce 

11 or’’ after ‘‘distributes, any visual depic12 tion’’; and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘using any means or 

14 facility of interstate or foreign commerce 

15 or’’ after ‘‘depiction for distribution’’; and 

16 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘using 

17 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 

18 commerce or’’ after ‘‘has been shipped or trans19 ported’’; and 

20 (4) in section 2252A(a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘using 

22 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 

23 commerce or’’ after ‘‘ships’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘using 

25 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 


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1 commerce or’’ after ‘‘mails, or’’ each place it ap2 pears; 

3 (C) in each of paragraphs (4) and (5), by 

4 inserting ‘‘using any means or facility of inter5 state or foreign commerce or’’ after ‘‘has been 

6 mailed, or shipped or transported’’; and 

7 (D) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘using 

8 any means or facility of interstate or foreign 

9 commerce or’’ after ‘‘has been mailed, shipped, or 

10 transported’’. 

11 (b) AFFECTING INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—Chapter 

12 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in each 

13 of sections 2251, 2251A, 2252, and 2252A, by striking ‘‘in 

14 interstate’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘in or af15 fecting interstate’’. 

16 (c) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO MATERIAL IN17 VOLVING THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF MINORS.—Section 

18 2252(a)(3)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

19 by inserting ‘‘, shipped, or transported using any means 

20 or facility of interstate or foreign commerce’’ after ‘‘that 

21 has been mailed’’. 

22 (d) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO MATERIAL

23 CONSTITUTING OR CONTAINING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.— 

24 Section 2252A(a)(6)(C) of title 18, United States Code, is 

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1 lows through ‘‘by computer,’’ and inserting ‘‘or any means 

2 or facility of interstate or foreign commerce,’’. 


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Calendar No. 706 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 431 

A BILL 

To require convicted sex offenders to register online 

identifiers, and for other purposes. 

APRIL 22, 2008 

Reported with amendments 


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