NC INTERNET LEGISLATION
By Dave Wallace
RIVER BENDER - August 1999
One of the many nice things that can be found on the Internet is what our elected officials are doing with our tax money. Periodically I like to peruse the NC General Assembly to see what's going on and in particular I like to take a look at bills involving Internet legislation.
This article summarizes a search of such bills. You can do this yourself by going to http://www.ncga.state.nc.us and selecting Bill Information, Bill Search, and Current Session and typing the keyword "Internet" to display the bills.
The following bills in the NC General Assembly were found to involve the Internet in some manner: I have summarized the intent of the legislation as briefly as possible. If one is really interested they should review the full text of the bill. I have also listed local NC State representatives should someone wish to comment on a bill. Bear in mind that the status of the bills may have changed since this article was submitted. Most had been forwarded to committees for review.
House Bill H834 EXPAND PUBLIC SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY Provides $2M for the next two years to wire classrooms in public schools with high-speed access to school networks and Internet (similar to S751).
House Bill H1129 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE DEMO FUNDS Provides $98K for the Department of Education to implement an Electronic Commerce Demo Project.
House Bill H1388 UNIFORM TAXES ON SALES Requires a retailer to charge a tax on sales at a Web site that is on a server in NC.
Senate Bill S288 (Version 4) UNSOLICITED COMM. ELEC. BULK MAIL Makes the sending of unsolicited bulk e-mail unlawful. Also makes it illegal to use a computer to intentionally cause another computer to malfunction or lose data. Note: This bill was ratified 6/15/99 and signed by the Governor on 6/25/99. All NC Internet users should take a look at this new law as it affects their e-mail.
Senate Bill S545 TOURISM JOB TRAINING FUNDS Provides $10K to establish and maintain a Web site to promote tourism in NC.
Senates Bill S580 INTERNET DINING GUIDE Provides $150K to the NC Restaurant Association to develop a statewide Internet dining guide for travelers and tourists.
Senate Bill S751 EXPAND PUBLIC SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY Provides $2M for State Board of Education to expand technology in public schools, including Internet access (similar to H834).
Senate Bill S907 LIMIT CHILD'S ACCESS/COMPUTER PORN Prohibits disseminationof obscenities by computer transmission and prohibits state computers from accessing it. Requires appropriate software to shield minors from obscenities.
Senate Bill S1010 INVESTMENT ADVISOR STUDY Authorizes a study of investment advisors including those on the Internet. Also includes a look at security provisions.
Senate Bill S1108 HEALTH INS/CONSUMER ADVOCATE Establishes an office of Consumers' Insurance Advocate. One of the duties would be to provide NC insurance information on the Internet.
Senate Bill S1111 ONLINE North Carolina Creates "Online North Carolina", a statewide network to facilitate electronic government.
YOUR NC STATE REPRESENTATIVES (In case you'd like to send them e-mail)
Beverly Perdue (Senate) Carteret,Craven and Pamlico counties (Dist. 3)
Zeno Edwards (House) Beaufort,Craven,Hyde and Pitt counties (Dist. 2)
Scott Thomas (House) Craven and Pamilco counties (Dist. 3)
William Wainwright (House) Craven,Jones,Lenoir and Pamlico counties (Dist. 79)