Legislation to Help Protect Children in Cyberspace (page 3)

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), signed into law on December 21, 2000, requires that schools and libraries that receive specified federal funding certify that they have in place an Internet safety policy that includes monitoring the use of Internet access by children and implementation of technology that will filter out objectionable content. On May 31, 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Pennsylvania, CIPA was declared facially unconstitutional (i.e.., in the Court’s opinion, the law cannot be applied in a constitutional manner). The District Court decision changed the requirements of CIPA by suspending the technology protection measure for public libraries although not for schools. Then on June 23, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that CIPA is facially constitutional and can be applied in a constitutional manner – a reversal of the previous decision in Pennsylvania.

•       http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html
•       http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/fcc01120.doc

Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 (DOPA)

Introduced on May 9^th, 2006, the Deleting Online Predators Act sought to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal service support for schools and libraries to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms. According to the proposed legislation, the bill prohibits access by minors without parental authorization to a commercial social networking website or chat room through which minors may easily access or be presented with obscene or indecent material; may easily be subject to unlawful sexual advances, unlawful requests for sexual favors, or repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature from adults may easily access other material that is harmful to minors.

This bill too was heavily debated as it faced several criticisms: First, it uses broad definitions of “online social network” which may impede legitimate and appropraate commercial blogging tools and e-mail list services. Second, the Bill does have provisions for allowing educational uses of online social networks. The legislation states that the filtering may be switched off “during use by an adult or by minors with adult supervision to enable access for educational purposes.” However, some wonder whether schools will allow educators to deactivate the filter to allow such access, that is, letting educators make decisions over which sites get filtered and when. In July 2006, this bill passed the House of Representatives although died in the Senate. In January of 2007, the DOPA bill resurfaced in the form of another piece of proposed legislation entitled Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act or sometimes referred to as DOPA, Jr. As of this writing, this bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

•       http://www.techlawjournal.com/cong109/bills/house/hr5319/hr5319ih.asp
•       http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.5319:
•       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deleting_Online_Predators_Act

There are many wonderful websites available that can help you to add your voice to the many others so that, in great numbers, we can instill global change to help guard our kids against high-tech trouble. These websites will help you do everything from inform others about Internet safety to advocating for for new legislation:

• Becoming an Advocate (from the National Peace Corp Association). This website discusses the various things that one can do to become a successful advocate. Particularly helpful is how they provide information for how to work with a Member of Congress. http://www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=732
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. This website is a must-see. Here, you will find volunteer and outreach opportunities while also staying informed of up-to-date information regarding the safety and security of children. http://www.missingkids.com/
• Congress.org is a service of Capitol Advantage and Knowlegis, LLC; private, non-partisan companies that specialize in facilitating civic participation. This website will help you stay up on political issues, contact your congressmen, and voice your opinons. http://www.congress.org/
• United States Senate. The official page of the United States Senate. http://www.senate.gov/
• United States Congress. The official page of the United States Congress. http://www.house.gov/
• WiredSafety.org has volunteer opportunities. WiredSafety, is the largest online safety, education and help group in the world. They are a “cyber-neighborhood watch” and operate worldwide in cyberspace through their more than 9,000 volunteers worldwide. http://www.wiredsafety.org/volunteer/
• Library of Congress (LOC). The purpose of thes website it to make federal legislative information freely available to the public. http://thomas.loc.gov/
• Bully Police USA. A Watch-dog Organization - Advocating for Bullied Children & Reporting on State Anti Bullying Laws. http://www.bullypolice.org/