The Global Online Freedom Act

Interesting! Beijing's not going to like this, I don't think:

Republican congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey used a meeting with international human rights group Reporters Without Borders last week to lobby for passage of a bill aimed at curtailing U.S. tech companies' participation in foreign countries' internet censorship schemes. Smith is hoping that the bill reaches the floor of the house and passes before the Olympics begin in August.

. . . "The gross mistake of allowing China to host the Olympics in light of its horrific human rights record will be significantly compounded if we do not speak up and call attention to the human rights heroes who languish in Chinese jails," said Smith, in a little-noted statement issued Friday. "We also need to take action to protect journalists and pro-democracy activists who may otherwise become the next victims after the spotlight provided by the Olympics is gone from the world's center stage."

Smith's bill, HR 275, the Global Online Freedom Act, has been endorsed by more than a dozen human rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Among other things, the bill would make it a crime for U.S. companies to turn over personal information on their users to governments of "internet-restricting countries" who would use the information to repress its citizens. There's an exception for information turned over for "legitimate foreign law enforcement purposes."