[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 543 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 543

   To require the installation and use by schools and libraries of a 
   technology for filtering or blocking material on the Internet on 
  computers with Internet access to be eligible to receive or retain 
                     universal service assistance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1999

 Mr. Franks (for himself, Mr. Pickering, and Mr. Oxley) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the installation and use by schools and libraries of a 
   technology for filtering or blocking material on the Internet on 
  computers with Internet access to be eligible to receive or retain 
                     universal service assistance.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Childrens' Internet Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. NO UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR SCHOOLS OR LIBRARIES THAT FAIL TO 
              IMPLEMENT A FILTERING OR BLOCKING TECHNOLOGY FOR 
              COMPUTERS WITH INTERNET ACCESS.

    (a) In General.--Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
    ``(l) Implementation of an Internet Filtering or Blocking 
Technology.--
            ``(1) In general.--An elementary school, secondary school, 
        or library that fails to provide the certification required by 
        paragraph (2) or (3), respectively, is not eligible to receive 
        or retain universal service assistance provided under 
        subsection (h)(1)(B).
            ``(2) Certification for schools.--To be eligible to receive 
        universal service assistance under subsection (h)(1)(B), an 
        elementary or secondary school (or the school board or other 
        authority with responsibility for administration of that 
        school) shall certify to the Commission that it has--
                    ``(A) selected a technology for computers with 
                Internet access to filter or block material deemed to 
                be harmful to minors; and
                    ``(B) installed, or will install, and uses or will 
                use, as soon as it obtains computers with Internet 
                access, a technology to filter or block such material.
            ``(3) Certification for libraries.--
                    ``(A) Libraries with more than 1 internet-accessing 
                computer.--To be eligible to receive universal service 
                assistance under subsection (h)(1)(B), a library that 
                has more than 1 computer with Internet access intended 
                for use by the public (including minors) shall certify 
                to the Commission that it has installed and uses a 
                technology to filter or block material deemed to be 
                harmful to minors on one or more of its computers with 
                Internet access.
                    ``(B) Libraries with only 1 internet-accessing 
                computer.--A library that has only 1 computer with 
                Internet access intended for use by the public 
                (including minors) is eligible to receive universal 
                service assistance under subsection (h)(1)(B) even if 
                it does not use a technology to filter or block 
                material deemed to be harmful to minors on that 
                computer if it certifies to the Commission that it 
                employs a reasonably effective alternative means to 
                keep minors from accessing material on the Internet 
                that is deemed to be harmful to minors.
            ``(4) Time for certification.--The certification required 
        by paragraph (2) or (3) shall be made within 30 days of the 
        date of enactment of the Childrens' Internet Protection Act, 
        or, if later, within 10 days of the date on which any computer 
        with access to the Internet is first made available in the 
        school or library for its intended use.
            ``(5) Notification of cessation; additional internet-
        accessing computer.--
                    ``(A) Cessation.--A library that has filed the 
                certification required by paragraph (3)(A) shall notify 
                the Commission within 10 days after the date on which 
                it ceases to use the filtering or blocking technology 
                to which the certification related.
                    ``(B) Additional internet-accessing computer.--A 
                library that has filed the certification required by 
                paragraph (3)(B) that adds another computer with 
                Internet access intended for use by the public 
                (including minors) shall make the certification 
                required by paragraph (3)(A) within 10 days after that 
                computer is made available for use by the public.
            ``(6) Penalty for failure to comply.--A school or library 
        that fails to meet the requirements of this subsection is 
        liable to repay immediately the full amount of all universal 
        service assistance it received under subsection (h)(1)(B).
            ``(7) Local determination of material to be filtered.--For 
        purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3), the determination of what 
        material is to be deemed harmful to minors shall be made by the 
        school, school board, library or other authority responsible 
        for making the required certification. No agency or 
        instrumentality of the United States Government may--
                    ``(A) establish criteria for making that 
                determination;
                    ``(B) review the determination made by the 
                certifying school, school board, library, or other 
                authority; or
                    ``(C) consider the criteria employed by the 
                certifying school, school board, library, or other 
                authority in the administration of subsection 
                (h)(1)(B).''.
    (b) Conforming Change.--Section 254(h)(1)(B) of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``All 
telecommunications'' and inserting ``Except as provided by subsection 
(l), all telecommunications''.

SEC. 3. FCC TO ADOPT RULES WITHIN 4 MONTHS.

    The Federal Communications Commission shall adopt rules 
implementing section 254(l) of the Communications Act of 1934 within 
120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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