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House approves bill to ban porn on federal computers

House legislators approved a bill Thursday prohibiting access to pornography on federal government computers. The law, called The Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act, or H.R. 901, accompanies a government reform package sponsored by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Alabama).

The reform package passed with a vote of 241-181. The guidelines were submitted by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and provide an exception for explicit and pornographic websites that are accessed for investigative purposes.

Pornography has been a common method used in the distribution of malware. In recent months, pornographic websites have been used to infect viewers with the Nuclear exploit kit (EK), the Android Marcher Trojan, and mobile malware.

“It's kind of ridiculous that we have to legislate this, but it is such a pervasive problem in our work on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that this is a vital bill in the package,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, during comments prior to a vote on the legislation.

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