por Sam Rolley
The Georgia State Senate has unanimously approved HB 237, legislation that will make foreclosure fraud a crime in Georgia.
Currently, Georgia law criminalizes fraud during the mortgage process, but specifically does not penalize similar fraud in the foreclosure process. Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens thanked the Senate for their overwhelming bipartisan support of HB 237.
“Georgia’s current mortgage fraud statute is insufficient and must be revised to criminalize fraud throughout the entire lending process, including foreclosure,” said Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens .
“Just last month, 49 state attorneys general reached a $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to settle rampant fraud which occurred nationwide during the foreclosure process.”
“I applaud the members of the Senate for recognizing that Georgia urgently needs a law protecting borrowers during every stage of the lending process. I am grateful for the leadership of Sens. Bill Hamrick and Jesse Stone for shepherding the bill through the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work with the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rich Golick, on gaining final approval for HB 237 in the House of Representatives, where it already passed last year 168-1.”
Cyberbullying laws could lead to internet censorship
Because protecting copyright holders did not seem reason enough for American citizens to go along with total government censorship of the Internet with bills like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act, lawmakers have chosen a new vehicle for censorship: protecting children.
As many as five States — Delaware, Kentucky, Indiana, Maine and New York — are working to implement cyberbullying laws that critics say could make surfing the Web a legal minefield.
According to USA Today, the legislation is aimed at “bringing our laws into the digital age and the 21st century,” said Senator Jeffrey Klein (D-N.Y.) who sponsored a bill to criminalize cyberbullying.
“When I was growing up, you had a tangible bully and a fight after school. Now you have hordes of bullies who are terrorizing over the Internet or other forms of social media.”
Some examples of the State laws:
In Indiana, a proposed bill would give schools more authority to punish students for off-campus activities such as cyberbullying from a computer not owned by the school.
In Maine, a proposal would define bullying and cyberbullying, specify responsibilities for reporting incidents of bullying and require schools to adopt a policy to address bullying.
In Delaware, meetings are under way to decide how a new cyberbullying policy would regulate off-campus behavior.
Critics say that the new legislative trend toes the line of infringing upon free speech. Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, told USA Today the movement in the legislatures and the courts is focusing on the disciplinary system and is shortsighted, saying: “You’re not going to be able to punish people into being more tolerant.”
Internet censorship in the name of protecting children was also proposed by SOPA author Lamar Smith (R-Texas) recently. Through the Protect Our Children From Online Pornographers Act (PCFIPA), Smith proposes some of the same measures included in his previous wildly unpopular attempt at Internet censorship.
