WASHINGTON, DC – Proposed federal legislation could send bloggers, forum posters, emailers and even telephone users to prison for up to two years if their online speech seems intended to “coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.” (Evidently animals and inanimate objects may be harassed at will.)

H.R. 1966, drafted by Rep. Linda Sanchez [D-Calif.] and titled the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, attempts to skirt obvious First Amendment issues by masquerading as yet another “protect the children” initiative. Sanchez and her 14 co-sponsors put forward the legislation in response to the legal morass that developed after 13-year-old Meier committed suicide last year following online emotional abuse at the hands of a schoolmate’s incognito mother.

Lori Drew, the mother, eventually was convicted of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. According to court documents and news reports, Meier had a falling out with Drew’s daughter. Seeking apparent revenge, Drew pretended to be a teenage boy, “friended” Meier on MySpace and then suggested the teen girl kill herself because she was a bad person.

A judge currently is weighing a motion to nullify the jury’s verdict in the case, on the grounds Drew was unaware of MySpace’s prohibition against impersonation. Sanchez’s bill would provide a more direct route to felony prosecution of individuals accused of similar cyberbullying, but it goes far beyond that by sweeping in almost every mode of verbal communication known to modern man. The bill includes provisions covering email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephone conversations and text messages.

According to the bill, “Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both….

“[Communication] means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; ….

“[Electronic means] means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.”

In other words, if something can be said using any piece of equipment connected to a power source, it can result in felony charges if another party to the communication takes offense or feels threatened.

Heaven help the denizens of popular adult webmaster forum GFY.

The bill is awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee.