House Bill 260 would require Utah Internet service companies to rate Utah-based porn Web sites, provide filtering software to their users and take steps to protect minors who would have access to a customer's computer. At the same time, the Utah Attorney General's Office would mine the Internet for porn Web sites and maintain a database of X-rated sites. The bill includes $250,000 in funding for a research study, public service announcements and to maintain the database.

When originally written, the bill included a constitutional warning from legislative attorneys. It has been amended and the note is gone. But attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah still worry the law violates the First Amendment. "A system of voluntary censorship should not be created at the request of government," Margaret Plane wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

Draper Republican Rep. LaVar Christensen questioned the unseemly prospect of having state attorneys comb the Internet for porn. "Is it a healthy and positive thing for the attorney general to maintain this 'Hall of Sleaze,' this 'Porn's Greatest Hits' when there are just a new flood of sites coming on line continually?" he asked. "Is that even realistic or a positive, productive thing to do?"

But sponsoring Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, said the list could give Internet providers a foundation for their filtering software. "This is up to the consumer," he said. "This is not something that is forced upon them."