Indiana: Another Age Verification Bill Criminalizing Legal Pornography

Another state lawmaker has introduced an age verification bill looking to block minors' access to porn websites.

This time, Indiana state Sen. Mike Bohacek of the community of Michiana Shores has introduced a preliminary draft that proposes copycat age verification policies similar to other states, including Louisiana, Texas, Utah, and others.

The Indiana bill would establish a criminal penalty for websites that knowingly or intentionally" produce adult content online and don't verify users' ages from Indiana-based IP addresses. It also establishes a right to civil action.

According to the draft text of the bill, transnational pornography websites and their parent firms - especially adult companies based in Canada and Cyprus - would be subject to a misdemeanor if they do not meet the age verification requirements laid out by the bill.

However, the bill allows for a violator of the crime to be charged with a felony if the violators have a criminal history or if the individual is found liable for violating the civil aspects of the bill that allow for civil actions.

This is the bill's current language (currently referred to as Preliminary Draft 3021):

An adult-oriented website operator who knowingly or intentionally publishes an adult-oriented website without using a reasonable age verification method to prevent a minor from accessing the adult-oriented website commits allowing a child to access Internet pornography, a Class A misdemeanor.

However, the offense is a level 6 felonyif the adult-oriented website operator has: (1) a prior unrelated conviction under this section; or (2) been found liable in a prior unrelated civil action brought under section 9 or 10 of this [bill].

Bohacek told the local NBC affiliate in Indianapolisthat his proposal is not intended to limit the rights of adults who choose to view consensual pornography protected by the First Amendment.

These verification methods aren't restricting the rights of legal adults, just tightening the law to ensure kids don't access harmful material," Bohacek explained to the outlet. He further pushed the anti-porn sentiment that age verification is constitutional and reasonable." Case law shows a different reality.

In my last post for Techdirt, we meet Ohio state Rep. Steve Demetriou, who has introduced an age verification proposal that makes it a felony for adult website owners who fail to meet the bill's standards if it becomes statute. Demetriou's proposal also charges a crime for those who circumvent the age-gate requirements through a VPN or proxy. While the Ohio bill is much more extreme, Bohacek's proposal is clearly unconstitutional. U.S. Supreme Court ruledin Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union that it violates the First Amendment of adult users for the government to require age verification or a similar measure that segregates age-restricted content across the internet.

A federal judge in Austin also found that a similar bill adopted by the Texas state legislature violated the First Amendment and the privacy rights of adult site users.

I don't know what is happening in the Midwest, but these age verification bills are getting weird.

Michael McGrady covers the legal and tech side of the online porn business, among other things. He is the politics and legal contributing editor for AVN.com.