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Since its inception, the Web has provided a variety of information to
its users. However, along with it have come sites that are inappropriate
for children. The United States government has always been pressed
to regulate the Internet. But doing so has a catch - when is it
protecting children and when is it restricting free speech?
The first federal law to address this issue was the Communications Decency
Act, part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The law made it
illegal to transmit "indecent" material with an electronic
device. In 1997, CDA was overturned by being declared unconstitutional
through a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union
challenging that it restricted freedom of speech.
The second federal law to address this issue was the Child Online Protection
Act of 1998 (COPA). Much like CDA, COPA was enacted for "Restriction
of access by minors to materials commercially distributed by means
of World Wide Web that are harmful to minors." In other words,
any commercial sites deemed "harmful to minors" and that
can be accessed by minors were declared illegal. Again, the ACLU
and several interest groups successfully argued in federal court
to hold COPA unconstitutional due to its restriction on free speech.
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COPPA Sites
KidsPrivacy.org
- From the Center for Media Education
- A parent's guide to online privacy including terms
and COPPA provisions.
CIPA Sites
Technology Assistance for Kansas Educators
- From the Kansas State Department of Education - Information
about CIPA, including the full text version of the law
and what it means for librarians and educators.
eSchool News online
- The online edition of eSchool
News - Article regarding deadlines and requirements for
complacence with CIPA and E-rate funding.
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Enacted
at the same time as COPA was the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA, while sounding similar in name
to COPA, sought for the "Regulation of unfair and deceptive
acts and practices in connection with collection and use of personal
information from and about children on the Internet." This
law required for sites directed towards children, or that collect
information from children, to provide privacy policies explaining
the use of any information a child provides to that site. Additionally,
it allows parents to retrieve that information and also to not allow
that site to solicit information from their child. This law is still
enforced and applies to children 13 or younger.
The
Children's Internet Protection Act (also known as CIPA or the CHIP
Act), requires public and school libraries to have a policy of Internet
safety for children. CIPA's amendments specifically require
protection that "blocks or filters" access to visual depictions
that are obscene or harmful to minors. If libraries fail to comply,
they will not receive federal funding through the E-rate program,
which provides a bulk of the federal funding for library Internet
connectivity.
However,
in March of 2001, both the ACLU and the America Library Association
(ala.org) filed suits against CIPA, in argument that "filters
are not effective in blocking all content that some may find objectionable,
but they do block much useful and constitutionally protected information."
The cases are still pending.
Learn More About. . .
Safe
Surfing
For
a child to be a safe surfer, adults must also understand how to
keep children safe. Find out more from 4Kids about filtering software,
safe surf strategies to teach your child, and the most effective
way to protect your child from harmful content!
Additional
Resources
There
are lots of other Web sites out there on safe surfing - from kid-friendly
search engines to resources for your child to learn about safe surfing.
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