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Statement
Congress found under the Child Online
Protection Act in Sec. 1402 that:
(1) while custody,
care, and nurture of the child resides first with the parent,
the widespread availability of the Internet presents
opportunities for minors to access materials through the World
Wide Web in a manner that can frustrate parental supervision or
control;
(2) the protection of the physical and psychological well-being of
minors by shielding them from materials that are harmful to them is a compelling governmental interest;
(3) to date, while the industry has
developed innovative
ways to help parents and educators restrict material that is
harmful to minors through parental control protections and
self-regulation, such efforts have not provided a national
solution to the problem of minors accessing harmful material on
the World Wide Web;
(4) a prohibition on the distribution of material harmful to
minors, combined with legitimate defenses, is currently the most
effective and least restrictive means by which to satisfy the
compelling government interest; and
(5) notwithstanding the existence of protections that limit the
distribution over the World Wide Web of material that is harmful
to minors, parents, educators, and industry must continue
efforts to find ways to protect children from being exposed to
harmful material found on the Internet.
They also found that:
(1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a study to
identify technological or other methods that--
(A) will help reduce access by minors to material that is
harmful to minors on the Internet; and
(B) may meet the requirements for use as affirmative defenses
for purposes of section 231(c) of the Communications Act of 1934
(as added by this title). Any methods so identified shall be
used as the basis for making legislative recommendations to the
Congress under subsection (d)(3).
(2) Specific methods.--In carrying out the study, the Commission
shall identify and analyze various technological tools and
methods for protecting minors from material that is harmful to
minors, which shall include (without limitation)--
(A) a common resource for parents to use to help protect minors
(such as a ``one-click-away'' resource);
(B) filtering or blocking software or services;
(C) labeling or rating systems;
(D) age verification systems
(E) the establishment of a domain name for posting of any
material that is harmful to minors; and
(F) any other existing or proposed technologies or methods for
reducing access by minors to such material.
(3) Analysis.--In analyzing technologies and other methods
identified pursuant to paragraph (2), the Commission shall
examine--
(A) the cost of such technologies and methods;
(B) the effects of such technologies and methods on law
enforcement
entities;
(C) the effects of such technologies and methods on privacy;
(D) the extent to which material that is harmful to minors is
globally distributed and the effect of such technologies and
methods on such distribution;
(E) the accessibility of such technologies and methods to
parents; and
(F) such other factors and issues as the Commission considers
relevant and appropriate.
(G)
Report.--Not later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall submit a report to the Congress containing
the results of the study under this section, which shall
include--
(1) a description of the technologies and methods identified by the
study and the results of the analysis of each such technology
and method;
(2) the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission regarding
each such technology or method;
(3) recommendations for legislative or administrative actions to
implement the conclusions of the committee; and
(4) a description of the technologies or methods identified by the
study that may meet the requirements for use as affirmative
defenses for purposes of section 231(c) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (as added by this title).
(e) Staff and Resources.--The Assistant Secretary for Communication
and Information of the Department of Commerce shall provide to
the Commission such staff and resources as the Assistant
Secretary determines necessary for the Commission to perform its
duty efficiently and in accordance with this section.
(f) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the
submission of the report under subsection (d).
(g) Inapplicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act.—The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply
to the Commission.
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