Vermont H 875: An act relating to the Vermont Telecommunications Authority

Bill Text

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VT LEG #386253 v.1
H.875 1
Introduced by Representatives Harvey of Castleton, Coffin of Cavendish, 2
Goslant of Northfield, Howard of Rutland City, Labor of 3
Morgan, Malay of Pittsford, Morgan, M. of Milton, Nielsen of 4
Brandon, North of Ferrisburgh, Pinsonault of Dorset, Powers of 5
Waterford, Pritchard of Pawlet, Tagliavia of Corinth, and 6
Winter of Ludlow 7
Referred to Committee on 8
Date: 9
Subject: Crimes and criminal procedure; sexual exploitation of children 10
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to amend the 11
statutes that criminalize the possession and promotion of child sexual abuse 12
materials to include visual or print medium images that are computer generated 13
if such images are indistinguishable from an actual child engaged in the 14
conduct. 15
An act relating to the possession and promotion of child sexual abuse 16
materials to include computer-generated images 17
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 18
Sec. 1. 13 V.S.A. § 2821 is amended to read: 19
§ 2821. DEFINITIONS 20

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VT LEG #386253 v.1
As used in this chapter: 1
(1) “Child” means any person under 16 years of age. 2
(2) “Sexual conduct” means any of the following: 3
(A) any conduct involving contact between the penis and the vulva, 4
the penis and the penis, the penis and the anus, the mouth and the penis, the 5
mouth and the anus, the vulva and the vulva, or the mouth and the vulva; 6
(B) any intrusion, however slight, by any part of a person’s body or 7
any object into the genital or anal opening of another with the intent of 8
arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desire of any 9
person; 10
(C) any intentional touching, not through the clothing, of the genitals, 11
anus, or breasts of another with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or 12
gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desire of any person; 13
(D) masturbation; 14
(E) bestiality; 15
(F) sadomasochistic abuse for sexual purposes; or 16
(G) any simulation of the conduct described in subdivisions (2)(A)–17
(F) of this section subdivision (2). 18

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VT LEG #386253 v.1
(3) “Performance” means: 1
(A) an event that is photographed, filmed, or visually recorded; or 2
(B) a play, dance, or other visual presentation or exhibition before an 3
audience. 4
(4) “Sexual performance” means any performance or any part of a 5
performance that includes sexual conduct by, with, or on a child. 6
(5) “Promote” means to procure, issue, manufacture, publish, sell, give, 7
provide, lend, mail, deliver, distribute, disseminate, circulate, present, exhibit, 8
advertise, make available, or offer to do the same, by any means, including 9
electronic transmission, file sharing, or peer-to-peer networks. 10
(6) “Peer-to-peer network” means a network in which two or more 11
computers or devices share files without requiring a separate server computer 12
or server software. 13
(7)(A) “Simulation” means the explicit depiction of any conduct 14
described in subdivisions (2)(A)–(F) of this section that: 15
(i) involves a child as defined in subdivision (1) of this section; 16
(ii) creates the appearance of such conduct; and 17
(iii) exhibits naked genitals, buttocks, or breasts below the top of 18
the areola. 19
(B) “Simulation” does not include paintings, drawings, or nonvisual 20
or written descriptions of sexual conduct. 21

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(C) “Simulation” applies only to conduct. 1
(8) “Adversarial testing” means red teaming or another activity 2
or exercise conducted in a controlled environment and in collaboration with 3
an artificial intelligence developer to identify a potential adverse behavior 4
or outcome of a model or system, to determine how the potential adverse 5
behavior or outcome of a model or system could occur to stress test 6
safeguards, and to conduct other structured evaluation methods as set forth 7
by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 8
(9) “Computer generated” means produced, adapted, or modified, in 9
whole or in part, through the use of artificial intelligence. 10
(10)(A) “Indistinguishable” means a visual or print medium that 11
is such that an ordinary person viewing the visual or print medium would 12
conclude that the visual or print medium depicts an actual child engaged in 13
the conduct depicted. 14
(B) “Indistinguishable” does not include a visual or print 15
medium that depicts a child that is a painting, drawing, or sculpture. 16
Sec. 2. 13 V.S.A. § 2824 is amended to read: 17
§ 2824. PROMOTING A RECORDING OF SEXUAL CONDUCT 18
(a)(1) No person may, with knowledge of the character and content, 19
promote any photograph, film, or visual recording of sexual conduct: 20

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VT LEG #386253 v.1
(A) by, with, or on a child, or of a lewd exhibition of a