CONTENTS:

1. (1) Mandatory Filtering Legislation in Congress
2. (2) Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail ("Spam") Bill
3. (3) COPA Commission (Commission on Online Child Protection)

(1) MANDATORY FILTERING LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS

For several years, on different bills, Congress has come close to adopting amendments that would require schools or librarires to use filtering software. CDT opposes mandatory filtering legislation.

Another battle over filtering is now shaping up. The House Education and the Workforce Committee is expected soon to consider draft bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Although at present there is no mandatory filtering language in these bills, it is likely that such language will be offered as amendments, probably on the House floor. The language offered could be as extreme as the language offered last fall by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK). Or it could be more moderate language requiring either a stringent acceptable use policy or mandatory use of filtering, blocking or monitoring software (modeled on Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-PA) bill S. 1545). A third proposed alternative is to require schools to adopt Internet use policies.

For the text of S. 1545, see http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:s.01545:

For more details on the Istook mandatory filtering language last fall, see http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.23.shtml

In this debate, it is worth noting how earlier this spring the town of Holland, Michigan voted to reject mandatory filtering of Internet access in the public library. The election demonstrated how local communities can work together to develop children's online safety measure that best fit their own needs, without imposing filtering on all library patrons. The Holland community met shortly after the election to develop an Internet use policy that will effectively address the community's interests in both access to information on the Internet and children's safety, without federal mandates or a straitjacket approach.

For more information on the post-election decisionmaking process in Holland, Michigan, see http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/022500/new_net.html

(2) UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL ("SPAM")

Anti-spam legislation is moving in the House of Representatives. On March 23, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications approved HR 3113, the "Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000," introduced by Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM). The full Commerce Committee may take up the bill after its current spring recess.

Many Internet users are frustrated with high volumes of unsolicited commercial electronic mail. CDT supports efforts to help empower Internet users to reduce the flow of unsolicited commercial email they receive. We also support enforcement of existing anti-fraud laws and other state laws wherever appropriate.

But this anti-spam legislation raises several concerns:

* It includes labeling requirements. Requiring those sending messages to include lables is a form of forced speech that raises serious First Amendment concerns.

* It creates a presumption that any person sending unsolicited commerical email knows the rules of all of the ISPs his or her mail might pass through between the sender's ISP and the receiver's. The technology of the Internet makes it impossible to know what route a piece of email will take to get from one location to another, or how many networks it will pass through along that route.

CDT also wants to make sure that the law does not cover email sent by individuals, nonprofits and others whose primary purpose is not commercial.

We have expressed our concerns to the Commerce Committee and to Congresswoman Wilson's office, and hope to see some of these changes reflected in the next draft of the legislation.

For further information on HR 3113, see http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:h.r.03113:

(3) COPA COMMISSION

The Commission on Online Child Protection met for the first time March 7. The Commission, created by Congress when it passed the Children's Online Protection Act (COPA) in the fall of 1998, is charged with looking into technological options for keeping kids safe online.

The first meeting was primarily administrative. Dr. Donald Telage, the Executive Advisor for Global Internet Strategy, Network Solutions, was elected Chair of the Commission. There was wide-ranging discussion about the Commission's goals, timeline, scope of work, and funding. The newly-elected Chairman indicated that he would draft a proposed meeting schedule, budget and work plan to be circulated for discussion as soon as possible.

The next meeting, which will be open to the public, will be in Washington DC on Friday, April 28, 2000, at the offices of the FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Room 532, Washington, DC from 9 AM to 4 PM.

The Commission agreed in principle to hold a number of hearings in different locations around the US, and that its work should be open to the public, with possible exceptions for information about proprietary technology and law enforcement investigations.

The Commissioners are:

1. Stephen Balkam, Internet Content Rating Association
2. John Bastian, Security Software Systems, Inc.
3. Jerry Berman, Center for Democracy & Technology
4. Robert Cotner, Evesta.com
5. Dr. Albert H. DeRosier, Jr., Rocky Mountain College
6. J. Robert Flores, National Law Center for Children & Families
7. Albert Ganier, Education Networds of America
8. Donna Rice Hughes, Author, Kids Online
9. William M. Parker, Crosswalk.com
10. Dr. C. James Schmidt, San Jose State University
11. William L. Schrader, PSINet
12. Larry Shapiro, Disney's GO.com
13. Srinija Srinivasan, Yahoo! Inc.
14. Karen Talbert, Amerivision Lifeline/iFriendly
15. Dr. Donald Telage, Network Solutions
16. George Vradenburg III, AOL

Sitting as ex officio non-voting members of the commission are:

1. Gregory L. Rohde, US Dept of Commerce/NTIA
2. Michael E. Horowitz, Criminal Division, US Dept of Justice
3. C. Lee Peeler, Consumer Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission.

The section of COPA creating the Commission remains in force even though the provisions of COPA regulating Internet content that is considered "harmful to minors" have been ruled unconstitutional and their enforcement blocked by a federal court. The government has appealed the lower court decision against COPA to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in November 1999, and could rule at any time.

For more information on COPA, see:

* CDT's amicus brief arguing that COPA is unconstitutional: http://www.cdt.org/speech/090199amicus.shtml

* The preliminary injunction: http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.3.html http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.2.html

* The initial legislation: http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_4.26.html

Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found at http://www.cdt.org/.

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Policy Post 6.08 Copyright 2000 Center for Democracy and Technology