A Maine legislative committee voted Thursday to repeal the state's Act to Prevent Predatory Marketing Practices Against Minors, citing challenges that the law is unconstitutional, MediaPost News reports. A proposal for a narrower measure to ban only the collection of data for the purpose of marketing prescriptions was also withdrawn due to constitutional concerns. The 2009 law prohibits companies from gathering personal information from anyone under the age of 18 without parental consent and bans the sale or transfer of health information that identifies minors. NetChoice, a coalition of Web companies, is praising the decision, with the coalition's legal counsel contending that legislation restricting marketing to minors "could cause grief for the state--legally and financially." The full Maine legislature is expected to vote on the repeal within a few weeks, the report states.
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