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[Not official version -- prepared by Electronic Privacy
Information Center]
104th Congress
1st Session
In the House of Representatives
Mr. Cox (for himself and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on __________
A Bill
To encourage and protect private sector initiatives that improve
user control over computer information services.
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 "Internet Freedom and Family
Empowerment Act."
SEC. 2. ONLINE FAMILY EMPOWERMENT.
Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et.
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
"SEC. 230. PROTECTION FOR PRIVATE BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF
OFFENSIVE MATERIAL; FCC CONTENT AND ECONOMIC REGULATION OF
COMPUTER SERVICES PROHIBITED.
"(a) FINDINGS.-- The Congress finds the following:
"(1) The rapidly developing array of Internet and other
interactive computer services available to individual Americans
represent an extraordinary advance in the availability of
educational and informational resources to our citizens.
"(2) These services offer users a great degree of control
over the information that they receive, as well as the potential
for even greater control in the future as technology develops.
"(3) The Internet and other interactive computer services
offer a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique
opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for
intellectual activity.
"(4) The Internet and other interactive computer services
have flourished, to the benefit of all Americans, with a minimum
of government regulation.
"(5) Increasingly Americans are relying on interactive media
for a variety of political, educational, cultural, and
entertainment services.
"(b) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States to -
"(1) promote the continued development of the Internet and
other interactive computer services and other interactive media:
"(2) preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that
presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer
services, unfettered by State or Federal regulation:
"(3) encourage the development of technologies which maximize
user control over the information received by individuals,
families, and schools who use the Internet and other interactive
computer services;
"(4) remove disincentives for the development and utilization
of blocking and filtering technologies that empower parents to
restrict their children's access to objectionable or inappropriate
online material; and
"(5) ensure vigorous enforcement of criminal laws to deter
and punish trafficking in obscenity, stalking, and harassment by
means of computer.
"(c) PROTECTION FOR 'GOOD SAMARITAN' BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF
OFFENSIVE MATERIAL. - No provider or user of interactive computer
services shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any
information provided by an information content provider. No
provider or user of interactive computer services shall be held
liable on account of -
"(1) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict
access to material that the provider or user considers to be
obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing,
or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is
constitutionally protected; or
"(2) any action taken to make available to information
content providers or others the technical means to restrict access
to material described in paragraph (1).
"(d) FCC REGULATION OF THE INTERNET AND OTHER INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER SERVICES PROHIBITED.-Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to grant any jurisdiction or authority to the Commission
with respect to economic or content regulation of the Internet or
other interactive computer services.
"(e) EFFECTS ON OTHER LAWS -
"(1) NO EFFECT ON CRIMINAL LAW. - Nothing in this
section shall be construed to impair the enforcement of section
223 of this Act, chapter 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110
(relating to sexual exploitation of children) of title 18, United
States Code, or any other Federal criminal statute.
"(2) NO EFFECT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW - nothing
in this section shall be construed to limit or expand any law
pertaining to intellectual property.
"(3) IN GENERAL - Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prevent any state from enforcing any state law that
is consistent with this section
"(f) Definitions - As used in this section:
"(1) INTERNET. - The term 'Internet' means the
international computer network of both Federal and non-Federal
interoperable packet switched data networks.
"(2) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE. - The term
'interactive computer service' means any information that provides
computer access to multiple users via modem to a remote computer
service, including specifically a service that provides access to
the Internet.
"(3) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER. - the term
'information content provider' means any person or entity that is
responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development
of information provided by the Internet or any other interactive
computer service, including any person or entity that creates or
develops blocking or screening software to permit control over
offensive material.
"(4) INFORMATION SERVICE. - The term 'information
service' means the offering of a capability for generating,
acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving,
utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications,
and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use
of any such capability for the management, control, or operation
of a telecommunications system or the management of a
telecommunications service."
