[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1120 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1120

   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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2007

  Mr. Kirk (for himself, Mr. Matheson, Mrs. Biggert, Ms. Granger, Mr. 
Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Shays, Mr. Fossella, Mr. Kuhl of New York, Mr. 
   Davis of Kentucky, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Gerlach, and Mr. 
   Roskam) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   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.

    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 ``Deleting Online Predators Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) sexual predators approach minors on the Internet using 
        chat rooms and social networking websites, and, according to 
        the United States Attorney General, one in five children has 
        been approached sexually on the Internet;
            (2) sexual predators can use these chat rooms and websites 
        to locate, learn about, befriend, and eventually prey on 
        children by engaging them in sexually explicit conversations, 
        asking for photographs, and attempting to lure children into a 
        face to face meeting; and
            (3) with the explosive growth of trendy chat rooms and 
        social networking websites, it is becoming more and more 
        difficult to monitor and protect minors from those with devious 
        intentions, particularly when children are away from parental 
        supervision.

SEC. 3. CERTIFICATIONS TO INCLUDE PROTECTIONS AGAINST COMMERCIAL SOCIAL 
              NETWORKING WEBSITES AND CHAT ROOMS.

    (a) Certification by Schools.--Section 254(h)(5)(B) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(5)(B)) is amended by 
striking clause (i) and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet 
                        safety for minors that includes monitoring the 
                        online activities of minors and the operation 
                        of a technology protection measure with respect 
                        to any of its computers with Internet access 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) protects against access 
                                through such computers to visual 
                                depictions that are--
                                            ``(aa) obscene;
                                            ``(bb) child pornography; 
                                        or
                                            ``(cc) harmful to minors; 
                                        and
                                    ``(II) protects against access to a 
                                commercial social networking website or 
                                chat room unless used for an 
                                educational purpose with adult 
                                supervision; and''.
    (b) Certification by Libraries.--Section 254(h)(6)(B) of such Act 
(47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6)(B)) is amended by striking clause (i) and 
inserting the following:
                            ``(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet 
                        safety that includes the operation of a 
                        technology protection measure with respect to 
                        any of its computers with Internet access 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) protects against access 
                                through such computers to visual 
                                depictions that are--
                                            ``(aa) obscene;
                                            ``(bb) child pornography; 
                                        or
                                            ``(cc) harmful to minors; 
                                        and
                                    ``(II) protects against access by 
                                minors without parental authorization 
                                to a commercial social networking 
                                website or chat room, and informs 
                                parents that sexual predators can use 
                                these websites and chat rooms to prey 
                                on children; and''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 254(h)(7) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(J) Commercial social networking websites; chat 
                rooms.--Within 120 days after the date of enactment of 
                the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2007, the 
                Commission shall by rule define the terms `social 
                networking website' and `chat room' for purposes of 
                this subsection. In determining the definition of a 
                social networking website, the Commission shall take 
                into consideration the extent to which a website--
                            ``(i) is offered by a commercial entity;
                            ``(ii) permits registered users to create 
                        an on-line profile that includes detailed 
                        personal information;
                            ``(iii) permits registered users to create 
                        an on-line journal and share such a journal 
                        with other users;
                            ``(iv) elicits highly-personalized 
                        information from users; and
                            ``(v) enables communication among users.''.
    (d) Disabling During Adult or Educational Use.--Section 
254(h)(5)(D) of such Act is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or educational'' after ``during adult'' 
        in the heading; and
            (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``or during use by an adult or by minors with adult 
        supervision to enable access for educational purposes pursuant 
        to subparagraph (B)(i)(II)''.

SEC. 4. FTC CONSUMER ALERT ON INTERNET DANGERS TO CHILDREN.

    (a) Information Regarding Child Predators and the Internet.--Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Federal Trade Commission shall--
            (1) issue a consumer alert regarding the potential dangers 
        to children of Internet child predators, including the 
        potential danger of commercial social networking websites and 
        chat rooms through which personal information about child users 
        of such websites may be accessed by child predators; and
            (2) establish a website to serve as a resource for 
        information for parents, teachers and school administrators, 
        and others regarding the potential dangers posed by the use of 
        the Internet by children, including information about 
        commercial social networking websites and chat rooms through 
        which personal information about child users of such websites 
        may be accessed by child predators.
    (b) Commercial Social Networking Websites.--For purposes of the 
requirements under subsection (a), the terms ``commercial social 
networking website'' and ``chat room'' have the meanings given such 
terms pursuant to section 254(h)(7)(J) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(7)(J)), as amended by this Act.
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