[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3833 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.3833
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To facilitate the creation of a new, second-level Internet domain within
the United States country code domain that will be a haven for material
that promotes positive experiences for children and families using the
Internet, provides a safe online environment for children, and helps to
prevent children from being exposed to harmful material on the Internet,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``Dot Kids Implementation and
Efficiency Act of 2002''.

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(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) the World Wide Web presents a stimulating and entertaining
opportunity for children to learn, grow, and develop educationally
and intellectually;
(2) Internet technology also makes available an extensive
amount of information that is harmful to children, as studies
indicate that a significant portion of all material available on
the Internet is related to pornography;
(3) young children, when trying to use the World Wide Web for
positive purposes, are often presented--either mistakenly or
intentionally--with material that is inappropriate for their age,
which can be extremely frustrating for children, parents, and
educators;
(4) exposure of children to material that is inappropriate for
them, including pornography, can distort the education and
development of the Nation's youth and represents a serious harm to
American families that can lead to a host of other problems for
children, including inappropriate use of chat rooms, physical
molestation, harassment, and legal and financial difficulties;
(5) young boys and girls, older teens, troubled youth, frequent
Internet users, chat room participants, online risk takers, and
those who communicate online with strangers are at greater risk for
receiving unwanted sexual solicitation on the Internet;
(6) studies have shown that 19 percent of youth (ages 10 to 17)
who used the Internet regularly were the targets of unwanted sexual
solicitation, but less than 10 percent of the solicitations were
reported to the police;
(7) children who come across illegal content should report it
to the congressionally authorized CyberTipline, an online mechanism
developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, for citizens to report sexual crimes against children;
(8) the CyberTipline has received more than 64,400 reports,
including reports of child pornography, online enticement for
sexual acts, child molestation (outside the family), and child
prostitution;
(9) although the computer software and hardware industries, and
other related industries, have developed innovative ways to help
parents and educators restrict material that is harmful to minors
through parental control protections and self-regulation, to date
such efforts have not provided a national solution to the problem
of minors accessing harmful material on the World Wide Web;
(10) the creation of a ``green-light'' area within the United
States country code Internet domain, that will contain only content
that is appropriate for children under the age of 13, is analogous
to the creation of a children's section within a library and will
promote the positive experiences of children and families in the
United States; and
(11) while custody, care, and nurture of the child reside first
with the parent, the protection of the physical and psychological
well-being of minors by shielding them from material that is
harmful to them is a compelling governmental interest.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to facilitate the creation of a second-level domain within
the United States country code Internet domain for the location of
material that is suitable for minors and not harmful to minors; and
(2) to ensure that the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration oversees the creation of such a second-
level domain and ensures the effective and efficient establishment
and operation of the new domain.

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Section 103(b)(3) of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 902(b)(3)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) shall assign to the NTIA responsibility for providing
for the establishment, and overseeing operation, of a second-
level Internet domain within the United States country code
domain in accordance with section 157.''.

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The National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended in part C by adding
at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 157. CHILD-FRIENDLY SECOND-LEVEL INTERNET DOMAIN.
``(a) Responsibilities.--The NTIA shall require the registry
selected to operate and maintain the United States country code
Internet domain to establish, operate, and maintain a second-level
domain within the United States country code domain that provides
access only to material that is suitable for minors and not harmful to
minors (in this section referred to as the `new domain').
``(b) Conditions of Contracts.--
``(1) Initial registry.--The NTIA shall not exercise any option
periods under any contract between the NTIA and the initial
registry to operate and maintain the United States country code
Internet domain unless the initial registry agrees, during the 90-
day period beginning upon the date of the enactment of the Dot Kids
Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002, to carry out, and to
operate the new domain in accordance with, the requirements under
subsection (c). Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
prevent the initial registry of the United States country code
Internet domain from participating in the NTIA's process for
selecting a successor registry or to prevent the NTIA from
awarding, to the initial registry, the contract to be successor
registry subject to the requirements of paragraph (2).
``(2) Successor registries.--The NTIA shall not enter into any
contract for operating and maintaining the United States country
code Internet domain with any successor registry unless such
registry enters into an agreement with the NTIA, during the 90-day
period after selection of such registry, that provides for the
registry to carry out, and the new domain to operate in accordance
with, the requirements under subsection (c).
``(c) Requirements of New Domain.--The registry and new domain
shall be subject to the following requirements:
``(1) Written content standards for the new domain, except that
the NTIA shall not have any authority to establish such standards.
``(2) Written agreements with each registrar for the new domain
that require that use of the new domain is in accordance with the
standards and requirements of the registry.
``(3) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
use the new domain in accordance with the standards and
requirements of the registry.
``(4) Rules and procedures for enforcement and oversight that
minimize the possibility that the new domain provides access to
content that is not in accordance with the standards and
requirements of the registry.
``(5) A process for removing from the new domain any content
that is not in accordance with the standards and requirements of
the registry.
``(6) A process to provide registrants to the new domain with
an opportunity for a prompt, expeditious, and impartial dispute
resolution process regarding any material of the registrant
excluded from the new domain.
``(7) Continuous and uninterrupted service for the new domain
during any transition to a new registry selected to operate and
maintain new domain or the United States country code domain.
``(8) Procedures and mechanisms to promote the accuracy of
contact information submitted by registrants and retained by
registrars in the new domain.
``(9) Operationality of the new domain not later than one year
after the date of the enactment of the Dot Kids Implementation and
Efficiency Act of 2002.
``(10) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
prohibit two-way and multiuser interactive services in the new
domain, unless the registrant certifies to the registrar that such
service will be offered in compliance with the content standards
established pursuant to paragraph (1) and is designed to reduce the
risk of exploitation of minors using such two-way and multiuser
interactive services.
``(11) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
prohibit hyperlinks in the new domain that take new domain users
outside of the new domain.
``(12) Any other action that the NTIA considers necessary to
establish, operate, or maintain the new domain in accordance with
the purposes of this section.
``(d) Option Periods for Initial Registry.--The NTIA shall grant
the initial registry the option periods available under the contract
between the NTIA and the initial registry to operate and maintain the
United States country code Internet domain if, and may not grant such
option periods unless, the NTIA finds that the initial registry has
satisfactorily performed its obligations under this Act and under the
contract. Nothing in this section shall preempt or alter the NTIA's
authority to terminate such contract for the operation of the United
States country code Internet domain for cause or for convenience.
``(e) Treatment of Registry and Other Entities.--
``(1) In general.--Only to the extent that such entities carry
out functions under this section, the following entities are deemed
to be interactive computer services for purposes of section 230(c)
of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)):
``(A) The registry that operates and maintains the new
domain.
``(B) Any entity that contracts with such registry to carry
out functions to ensure that content accessed through the new
domain complies with the limitations applicable to the new
domain.
``(C) Any registrar for the registry of the new domain that
is operating in compliance with its agreement with the
registry.
``(2) Savings provision.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be
construed to affect the applicability of any other provision of
title II of the Communications Act of 1934 to the entities covered
by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).
``(f) Education.--The NTIA shall carry out a program to publicize
the availability of the new domain and to educate the parents of minors
regarding the process for utilizing the new domain in combination and
coordination with hardware and software technologies that provide for
filtering or blocking. The program under this subsection shall be
commenced not later than 30 days after the date that the new domain
first becomes operational and accessible by the public.
``(g) Coordination With Federal Government.--The registry selected
to operate and maintain the new domain shall--
``(1) consult with appropriate agencies of the Federal
Government regarding procedures and actions to prevent minors and
families who use the new domain from being targeted by adults and
other children for predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal
actions; and
``(2) based upon the consultations conducted pursuant to
paragraph (1), establish such procedures and take such actions as
the registry may deem necessary to prevent such targeting.
The consultations, procedures, and actions required under this
subsection shall be commenced not later than 30 days after the date
that the new domain first becomes operational and accessible by the
public.
``(h) Compliance Report.--The registry shall prepare, on an annual
basis, a report on the registry's monitoring and enforcement procedures
for the new domain. The registry shall submit each such report, setting
forth the results of the review of its monitoring and enforcement
procedures for the new domain, to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate.
``(i) Suspension of New Domain.--If the NTIA finds, pursuant to its
own review or upon a good faith petition by the registry, that the new
domain is not serving its intended purpose, the NTIA shall instruct the
registry to suspend operation of the new domain until such time as the
NTIA determines that the new domain can be operated as intended.
``(j) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
``(1) Harmful to minors.--The term `harmful to minors' means,
with respect to material, that--
``(A) the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with
respect to minors, that it is designed to appeal to, or is
designed to pander to, the prurient interest;
``(B) the material depicts, describes, or represents, in a
manner patently offensive with respect to minors, an actual or
simulated sexual act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated
normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the
genitals or post-pubescent female breast; and
``(C) taken as a whole, the material lacks serious,
literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
``(2) Minor.--The term `minor' means any person under 13 years
of age.
``(3) Registry.--The term `registry' means the registry
selected to operate and maintain the United States country code
Internet domain.
``(4) Successor registry.--The term `successor registry' means
any entity that enters into a contract with the NTIA to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet domain that covers
any period after the termination or expiration of the contract to
operate and maintain the United States country code Internet
domain, and any option periods under such contract, that was signed
on October 26, 2001.
``(5) Suitable for minors.--The term `suitable for minors'
means, with respect to material, that it--
``(A) is not psychologically or intellectually
inappropriate for minors; and
``(B) serves--
``(i) the educational, informational, intellectual, or
cognitive needs of minors; or
``(ii) the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of
minors.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Dot Kids Internet Domain bill — HR. 3833

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