1. Brandon Hall CSC 540

2.  The US Government first attempted to filter the Internet in the early 90’s.  This was an attempt to protect minors against the sexually explicit material on the internet.  The US Government had a hard time coming up with a law that wouldn’t get struck down as unconstitutional due to the First Amendment.

3. Based on a study conducted by Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop.

4.  CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act)  CDA (Communications Decency Act)  COPA (Child Online Protection Act)

5.  Signed into law in 1996.  This Act was the first attempt by US Congress to regulate both indecency and obscenity on the Internet.  Portions of this act was declared unconstitutional in 1997 with the case of Reno V. ACLU.

6.  Supreme Court found that the “Indecency” portion of the act was unconstitutional.  Justice John Paul Stevens stated that "the CDA places an unacceptably heavy burden on protected speech“  "safe harbor" section protecting ISPs from being liable for the words of others, was not affected by this decision and remains law.

7.  Drafted in 1998.  This act attempted to restrict to any material defined as harmful to such minors on the Internet.  COPA required all commercial distributors of "material harmful to minors" to restrict their sites from access by minors.  "Material harmful to minors" was defined as material that by "contemporary community standards" was judged to appeal to the "prurient interest" and that showed sexual acts or nudity.  The act was never signed into law, and a permanent injunction was granted in 2009.

8.  In 1999 the Third Circuit Court of Appeals quickly struck down this law as unconstitutional.  They stated that act was too broad in using "community standards" as part of the definition of harmful materials.  However in 2002 the Supreme Court Reviewed the case and sent it back to the Third Circuit.

9.  In 2003 the Third Circuit struck down the law again as unconstitutional this time stating that it would hinder protected speech among adults.  In 2004 the case of in Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) the Supreme court upheld the injunction.  Finally in 2007 US District Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. Stated that the act violated first amendment and fifth amendment rights.

10.  Signed into law in 2000.  Found to be constitutional by the Supreme court in 2003.  This act targeted schools and libraries.

11.  Adopt an internet safety policy.  The use of internet filters and blocking software for images that may be considered obscene or harmful to minors.  Allow the filter to be disable for use by Adults.  Enforce monitoring the use of the internet by minors.

12.  Miller V. California (1973)  whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards (not national standards, as some prior tests required), would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;  whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law;  whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. (Miller V. California)

13.  Harmful to minors was defined in the act itself.  Harmful minors was defined as Any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion; depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; and taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors” (CIPA)

14.  Client side filters  Browser based filters  Content – limited ISP filters  Server side filters  Search engine filters

15.  Client Side filters are installed as software, and need to be installed on each computer.  Client Side filters can be customized using a username and password.  Server Side filters are the most common type of filters for schools and libraries.  These type of filters are installed on a server, and are the same for all computers on that server.

16.  Content – limited ISP filters can limit the users interaction to other users with the same kind of filters. This filter is implemented by the ISP.  Browser Based filters – Google Chrome does not offer browser based filters.

17.  Over filtering is the main issue with filtering software. They filter key words, so searches like “Breast Cancer”, “Summa Cum Laude” don’t make it through the filters.  These filters will also block an entire site based on sexuality, even if only a page on the site has this material.

18.  What are the consequences if a school or library doesn’t remain CIPA compliant?  They can lose their E-Rate Funding and other government funding.  The E-Rate program provides discounts to public K-12 schools and libraries purchasing telecommunications services, Internet access, Internet connections and basic maintenance of internal connections.  Can lose federal education funding to schools for purchase of computers used to access the Internet, or to pay for direct costs associated with accessing the Internet.

19.  (n.d.). Retrieved from FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act  (n.d.). Retrieved from Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp- dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A22519-2003Jun23&notFound=true  (n.d.). Retrieved from Library Student Journal: http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/article/view/25/17  (n.d.). Retrieved from ENotes: http://www.enotes.com/internet-reference/internet-filters- schools-and-libraries  (n.d.). Retrieved from Net Safe Kids: http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/pro_fm_filter.html  (n.d.). Retrieved from 2-power: http://www.2-power-n.com/doc/search-engine-filter.html  (n.d.). Retrieved from Department of information resources: http://www2.dir.state.tx.us/ict/resources/Pages/eratefunding.aspx  (n.d.). Retrieved from E-Rate Central: http://www.e-ratecentral.com/CIPA/cipa_policy_primer.pdf  (n.d.). Retrieved from Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/5781878/four-out-of-five-of-toddlers-use- the-internet  CDA. (n.d.). Retrieved from WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act  CIPA. (n.d.). Retrieved from WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Internet_Protection_Act  Content Control. (n.d.). Retrieved from WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content- control_software  COPA. (n.d.). Retrieved from WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Online_Protection_Act  Hitchcock, L. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.isu.edu/library/friends/foolscap.pdf  Info People. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://infopeople.org/resources/filtering/  Miller V. California. (n.d.). Retrieved from WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California