The Senate has voted 94-0 to tack onto a Defense Department spending bill an amendment that would prohibit the distribution of bomb-making instructions in the United States.
Although the word "Internet" is not mentioned in the four-page amendment, the legislation would outlaw Web sites, newspapers, zines, and books that publish instructions on how to make a bomb - such as The Anarchist's Cookbook and The Terrorist Handbook. Violators would face fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years.
Sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), who has been trying to get the legislation on the books since 1995, the amendment passed Thursday is narrowly written to include only the distribution of material that has an "intent to harm."
In April, the Justice Department released a study that found there indeed is a connection between the availability of bomb-making instructions and the actual making of bombs. It also concluded that legislation criminalizing the publication of such information, if narrowly written, would not be a violation of the First Amendment. The Justice Department determined that the distribution of such materials is not a basic free-speech right, but an obstruction of justice.
The Senate will vote on the defense bill early next week. The bill - and the amendment - will then go to a House conference committee.
