104th CONGRESS

                      1st Session

 To encourage and protect private sector initiatives that improve
user control over computer information services.

            IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    June 30, 1995

 Mr. Cox of California (for himself and Mr. Wyden) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

                        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) 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 or any
other interactive computer service, including any person or
entity that creates or develops blocking or screening software
or other techniques to permit user 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.'.