In a world full of dangerous people with dangerous minds, it seems that Congress is proposing a new law to filter out MySpace, Friendster, and other social networking networks from libraries and schools. And that may include filtering out some of Google's services as well.

(Silicon.com) Fitzpatrick and fellow Republicans, including house speaker Dennis Hastert, on Wednesday endorsed new legislation that would cordon off access to commercial websites that let users create public "web pages or profiles" and also offer a discussion board, chat room, or email service.

That's a broad category which covers far more than social-networking sites, including Friendster and Google's Orkut.com. It would also sweep in a wide range of interactive websites and services, including AOL and Yahoo!'s instant-messaging features, Blogger.com and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which permits in-game chat.

Although MySpace and Friendster already have their own problems to deal with, Orkut's Terms of Service specifically prohibit minors from joining.

This legal measure, although aimed at protecting children from predators, may end up discouraging some individuals from visiting libraries as email, forums and even blogging are increasingly being used by small business owners and entrepreneurs.

About the author: Darnell Clayton is a Financial Services Professional who helps families and clients save money for their retirement accounts instead of Uncle Sam's wallet.

Previously he was in the Information Technology field, which helped him acquire his "geek-like" powers.

He currently blogs at Inside Orkut detailing what goes on inside Google's community forums.