Under the planned legislation, any sex offender who submits a fraudulent e-mail could face jail time. The Senators also said that the registration and collection of sex offenders' e-mail addresses will provide an invaluable tool for law enforcement because, should a sex offender provide an e-mail found to be fraudulent, they will know that the predator is trying to evade detection.
"Just like in our actual neighborhoods, sex offenders must make themselves known in our virtual neighborhoods as well," Schumer said. "Millions of teenagers log on to Web sites like MySpace and they shouldn't have to worry about running in to these predators online. Sex offenders have no business joining social networking communities -- especially those with teenage users -- and our legislation will keep them out. This first-of-its-kind law will represent a giant leap for Internet safety."
"The legislation that Senator Schumer and I are developing together reflects our strong desire to protect children online. It also highlights our interest in working with the private sector to find innovative and effective approaches to stopping the exploitation of our nation's children both online and in the offline world," McCain said.
Under the planned legislation, registered sex offenders would be required to log an e-mail address with their probation or parole officers. Any offender caught using an unregistered e-mail address would be in violation of probation or parole terms and face a return to prison. Senators Schumer and McCain are also working together on other provisions in an effort to better protect children online.
The Senators plan to introduce their legislation at the beginning of the 110th Congress in January.
