The Latest: Lawmaker says he feels misled on anti-porn bill

The Latest on an effort to introduce bills that would require a filter for online pornography that could be lifted with a $20 fee (all times local):

4:05 p.m.

A Rhode Island lawmaker says he feels misled about who was supporting legislation he sponsored to require a filter for online pornography that could be lifted with a $20 fee.

Democratic Sen. Frank Ciccone (chih-KOHN'-ee) pulled the bill Tuesday, a day after The Associated Press reported the legislation had been pushed around the country by a man with a history of outlandish lawsuits including one trying to marry his computer as a statement against gay marriage.

Backers had dubbed it the Elizabeth Smart Law after the Utah teenager who was kidnapped even though Smart says she wants nothing to do with it.

Ciccone says he assumes other lawmakers in some of the 18 states where the bill appeared this year also got bad information. He says he assumes some of those lawmakers also will pull their bills.

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1:30 p.m.

A Rhode Island lawmaker has withdrawn a bill that would have required a filter for online pornography that could be lifted with a $20 fee.

Sen. Frank Ciccone (chih-KOHN'-ee) says he pulled the bill after The Associated Press reported the legislation had been pushed around the country by a man with a history of outlandish lawsuits including trying to marry his computer as a statement against gay marriage.

In a press release issued ahead of a Tuesday hearing, Ciccone cited what he called the bill's "dubious origins."

He said he made the decision after learning that kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart "was in no way involved with this legislation."

Smart's spokesman told the AP she had sent a cease and desist letter telling the backers of the bill described as the "Elizabeth Smart Law" to stop using her name.

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8 a.m.

A man with a history of outlandish lawsuits including trying to marry his computer is pushing a measure requiring a filter for online pornography that could be lifted with a $20 fee.

The measure pushed in legislatures across the country by Chris Sevier has been dubbed the "Elizabeth Smart Law" after the kidnapping victim from Utah.

Smart has sent a cease-and-desist letter to have her name removed from the website pushing the measure.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has tracked about two dozen similar bills in 18 state legislatures this year, none of which have passed.

A bill in Rhode Island is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday.

Sevier and supporters say it would protect children and others by making pornography and sites that allow human trafficking harder to access.