ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 7 January 22, 1999 In this issue: Sens. McCain, Hollings Introduce Filtering Bill Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), ranking minority member of the Senate Commerce Committee, have introduced The Children's Internet Protection Act, S. 97. The bill would require filtering and blocking software to be used by any school or library receiving E- rate discounts. According to the S. 97, libraries would be required to use a filtering system on one or more of their computers so that at least one computer will be "appropriate for minors' use." Schools receiving universal service discounts -- also known as the E-rate -- would be required to use filtering or blocking software on all of their computers. The Children's Internet Protection Act appears to be very similar to the bill that Sens. McCain and Hollings cosponsored last year. ALA, the EdLiNC coalition and others did not support that bill. "As Internet use in our schools and libraries continues to grow, children's potential exposure to harmful online content and to those who seek to sexually abuse children will only increase," Sen. McCain said in a January 20 statement. "Perhaps most important, this legislation will not censor what goes onto the Internet, nor will it censor what adults may see, but rather filters what comes out of it onto the computers our children use outside the home." "This legislation is an important step in the battle to protect children from the dark side of the Internet," said Sen. Hollings. "Children should be protected from stumbling onto indecent material while using the web for legitimate purposes and this bill will go a long way in obtaining that goal." A summary, provided by the Senate Commerce Committee, of The Children's Internet Protection Act, S. 97 is as follows: ------- Schools would have to certify with the FCC that they are using or will use a filtering or block system on computers with Internet access so that students will not be exposed to harmful material on the Internet. A school will not be eligible to receive universal service support for Internet access unless they do this. In order to be eligible for universal service, libraries would only have to certify that they are using a filtering or blocking system for one or more of their computers so that at least one computer will be suitable for minors' use. School and library administrators are free to choose any filtering or blocking system that would best fit their community standards and local needs. In providing for universal service discounts for Internet access, no federal governmental body can make any qualitative judgements about the system nor the material to be filtered that the school or library has chosen. ------- Rep. Bob Franks (R-NJ) also introduced a similar bill to S. 97 in the House of Representatives this week. In the 105th Congress, two similar bills, S. 1619 and the Sen. Franks-sponsored H.R. 3177, were unsuccessful. ALAWON readers will recall that last congressional session, alternative language was proposed by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) and others to require local Internet use policies rather than blocking or filtering software. ALA and others argued that, if there were to be any federal legislation passed in this arena, the Burns approach was preferable. Advocates are working to see if such an alternative can again be introduced. Emphasizing control at the local level through local use policies (LUPs) would be consistent with the need to have all such content and curriculum decisions made at the local level. ALA will review S. 97 in more detail. Many issues are raised, including when it would become effective and how it would impact the libraries and schools just now receiving their E-rate commitment letters. The application process for the second year of the E-rate has also just begun. Further news about the Children's Internet Protection Act will be forthcoming as it becomes available. ****** 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. 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