HB2586

THE CONTEXT: A.R.S. Title 18 regulates information technology, including chapters on government information technology; governmental reporting of information; the property technology sandbox; and network access, services and security. While the substantive

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would subjects a commercial entity to civil liability for damages if the commercial entity knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material without performing a reasonable age verification method to verify the age of an individual attempting to access the material, specifies that a commercial entity that fails to perform the age verification method described above is liable to an individual for the damages that result from a minor accessing the material harmful to minors, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees, and prohibit a commercial entity or third party that performs the required age verification from retaining any of the individual's identifying information after access is granted to the material harmful to minors. (Sec 1).

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to make the government process for harmful website content more definite and accountable. It would subjects a commercial entity to civil liability for damages if the commercial entity knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material without performing a reasonable age verification method to verify the age of an individual attempting to access the material, and would also specifies that a commercial entity that fails to perform the age verification method described above is liable to an individual for the damages that result from a minor accessing the material harmful to minors, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.