COPA commission issues report

摘要

The Commission on Online Child Protection is advising federal agencies to "consider greater enforcement and possibly rulemaking to discourage deceptive or unfair practices to entice children to view obscene materials." Wired News reported October 6 that the commission's final report would call for the adult-content industry to take voluntary steps to reduce minors' access to sexual material, including self-labeling and the removal of graphic material from "teaser" home pages. It also recommends that Congress "encourage" both Internet providers and the adult-content industry to protect minors through such practices as providing filtering software, deleting material that could be "harmful to minors," and cooperating more closely with police. Wired News said the commissioners did not suggest additional criminal laws or a .xxx or .sex top-level domain but called instead for more "public education" and "responsible adult empowerment." Earlier reports indicated the commission would recommend that Congress create an independent research bureau to evaluate Internet filtering software. The Associated Press reported September 20 that the commission might also call for the establishment of a special child-friendly Internet zone. Donald Telage, a former president of Network Solutions, told the AP that other approaches might include age-verification techniques, content labeling, and education initiatives. The AP story said that the commission had rated all of its possible recommendations on the basis of such criteria as cost, effectiveness, privacy, and First Amendment considerations. The commission, which was established with the passage of the Child Online Protection Act in 1998, is charged with identifying "technological or other methods that will help reduce access by minors to material that is harmful to minors on theInternet." (AL, Sept., p. 103).