ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 11, Number 53 June 26, 2002 In This Issue: ALA Advises Holding Certification on NCIPA for E- rate July 1 looms as the deadline for complying with the Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act (NCIPA) for those libraries who are receiving 2002 E-rate discounts for Internet access or internal connections. A three-judge panel from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania declared the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) unconstitutional with respect to public libraries. This does not remove NCIPA as a requirement for public libraries participating in the E-rate program. Guidance concerning how NCIPA certification will be handled in response to the Courts' decision is expected from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) within the next few weeks. Based on consultation with the FCC, ALA urges libraries to refrain from filing certification forms until this FCC order is issued and legal counsel have had an opportunity to review it. Put simply, we advise libraries to comply with NCIPA now but to certify compliance to the FCC after the order and possibly new forms have been issued and evaluated. Certification on Form 486 is not required until later. Libraries participating in consortia face a unique issue because their certification is included with their letter of agency on Form 479. ALA urges libraries that must sign a Form 479 before receiving new direction from the FCC to write in a substitute certification for NCIPA rather than check a box for CIPA certification. For example: I certify that my library has complied with the requirements of the Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act. Things to remember: NCIPA requires that a library adopt an Internet safety policy that addresses five issues: (1) access by minors to "inappropriate matter"; (2) safety and security of minors when using e-mail, chat rooms and other forms of direct electronic communication; (3) unauthorized access, including hacking and other unlawful online activities by minors; (4) unauthorized disclosure of personal identification information of minors; and (5) measures designed to restrict minors' access to harmful materials. NCIPA does not prescribe any specific manner in which to address these issues and does not require filtering or mandate any specific policy. In addressing the Internet safety policy, NCIPA requires libraries to hold at least one public meeting or hearing with reasonable notice to the public. The meeting must have been held prior to July 1, 2002, and may have been held prior to the enactment of NCIPA. NCIPA does not define reasonable public notice, but libraries should determine whether local or state regulations define the requirements for an open meeting. The deadline for NCIPA certification on Form 486 is 120 days after the start of service. This is October 29 for services that start on July 1. HOWEVER, a library must be in compliance with NCIPA as soon as it starts receiving services. For many libraries their service start date is July 1. If you have any questions regarding NCIPA, please call Claudette Tennant at ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy (1-800- 941-8478) or your state coordinator. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.