roundtable: HR 1555 IS PRO-INTERNET!

roundtable: HR 1555 IS PRO-INTERNET!

HR 1555 IS PRO-INTERNET!

AC (special@bell.com)
Thu, 3 Aug 1995 18:12:26 -0400 (EDT) 

Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 18:12:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: "ACC(BELL.COM)-Listserver" <special@bell.com>
Subject: HR 1555 IS PRO-INTERNET!
To: telecomreg@relay.doit.wisc.edu, bell@bell.com, com-priv@psi.com,
Message-Id: <Pine.3.85.9508031826.A13262-0100000@bell.com>


Over the last few hours there has been a large amount of traffic on the 
Internet about the Managers Amendment to HR 1555 that will be voted on 
tonight (August 3rd).  The following is a section from the amendment that 
will put protection of the Internet into law! More information on this 
legislation can be found at http://bell.com


     [21.  Online Family Empowerment]


     Page 78, before line 18, insert the following new section (and
redesignate the succeeding sections and conform the table of contents
accordingly): 

     SEC. 104. ONLINE FAMILY EMPOWERMENT.
     Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.)
is amended by inserting after section 230 (as added by section 103 of this
Act) the following new section:
     "SEC. 231.  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 
materials; 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 pro vider 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 content or
other regulation of the Internet or other
 interactive computer services.

"(e) EFFECT 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 service that 
provides computer access to multiple users via modem to a remote computer 
server, 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 any other interactive computer 
service, including any person or entity that creates or develop s 
blocking or screening software or other techniques to permit user control 
over offensive material." 



 
Robert Stewart
Alliance for Competitive Communications
E-Mail:  stewart@bell.com
WWW:  http://bell.com/1555update.html

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