AUSTIN, TX — Governor Rick Perry has signed into law Senate Bill 689, Senator Florence Shapiro's landmark online safety legislation which will require registered sex offenders to provide additional identifying information to the state. New data to be collected includes email addresses, online identifiers, screennames, and mobile telephone numbers, all of which will be compiled and included in the Texas Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety. While not publicly available, these identifiers will be made available to the operators of Internet-based social networking sites for their use in removing or precluding the registration of registered sex offenders on those sites.

Jeff Clark, Executive Director of TechAmerica Texas praised the new law and commended the authors for their help in crafting a law that enhances the safety of our children. "During the legislative session, TechAmerica and our members had the opportunity to work closely with Senator Florence Shapiro, Representative Aaron Pena, Attorney General Greg Abbott and their staffs to carefully craft a law that will give the online community and law enforcement valuable and powerful new tools in the fight against would-be predators. Our shared commitment to the safety of our children guided our work and I believe we were able to create a law that will make the Internet safer for the millions of Texans who use social networking sites every day. These sites have become an integral and enjoyable part of our personal and professional lives and Senate Bill 689 makes it possible for online services to gain access to the offender data they need to better protect the users of their sites."

Senator Florence Shapiro, author of the bill, spoke to the need for this law to face an evolving threat in an increasing connected society, "For over a decade, I have worked to protect our children from sexual predators, beginning with Ashley's Laws in 1995. With today's Internet, it is time to take this fight into the virtual world and target those who wish to harm our children through social networking sites, chat rooms and live video gaming systems."

Clark continued, "As an industry, the online community is committed to safety and has taken dramatic and oftentimes costly steps to help ensure the safety of our users. In some cases, this has included compiling their own sex offender registries in an effort to identify and remove individuals who they feel pose a threat to the safety of other users. Through this law, the State of Texas is providing a new and helpful too to aid us in the fight against online predators. We applaud Attorney General Greg Abbott, Senator Florence Shapiro, and Representative Aaron Pena for their leadership and support of this important effort."

Clark also reiterated the importance of parental involvement in protecting their children online, "As an industry, we work tirelessly to make sure our sites are safe for our users. It is critically important, however, that parents remember that they remain the first line of defense when it comes to protecting children on the Internet. We should all be vigilant in monitoring the activities of our children online and in teaching them to be cautious in their online interactions. As in any other public place, young people should be reminded to avoid strangers, use caution and common sense, and report any inappopriate activity."

Senator Shapiro pointed out, "Privacy and secrecy are a sex offender's best friend. With the assistance of the industry, we will shine the light on these networks and forever change their potential exploitation." Clark added, "With the passage of Senator Shapiro's Senate Bill 689, the State of Texas has joined the online community in sending a clear message: Registered sex offenders are not welcome on Internet social networking sites and we will work together to deter their presence."

Senate Bill 689 can be found online at the following link: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB689