II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2426 

To facilitate the protection of minors using the Internet from material that 

is harmful to minors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16 (legislative day, MARCH 15), 2006 

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To facilitate the protection of minors using the Internet 

from material that is harmful to minors, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cyber Safety for Kids 

5 Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOP-LEVEL INTERNET DOMAIN 

7 NAME. 

8 (a) NTIA ACTION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of ComVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:32 Mar 17, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2426.IS S2426

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•S 2426 IS

1 merce, acting through the National Telecommunications 

2 and Information Administration, shall— 

3 (1) pursuant to the authority under section 

4 II.B. of the Memorandum of Understanding Be5 tween the United States Department of Commerce 

6 and ICANN, entered into on November 25, 1998, 

7 regarding oversight of the policy for determining the 

8 circumstances under which new top-level Internet 

9 domains are added to the root system, jointly with 

10 ICANN, develop a plan in accordance with section 

11 102 for ICANN to establish a new domain meeting 

12 the requirements in subsection (b); 

13 (2) upon completion of the plan developed 

14 under paragraph (1), make such plan publicly avail15 able; 

16 (3) enter into any memorandums of under17 standing, agreements, and contracts with ICANN, 

18 as may be necessary to carry out the plan developed 

19 under paragraph (1); and 

20 (4) make any amendments to any existing 

21 memorandums of understandings, agreements, and 

22 contracts with ICANN, as may be necessary to carry 

23 out the plan developed under paragraph (1). 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•S 2426 IS

1 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW DOMAIN.—The new 

2 domain established under subsection (a) shall be subject 

3 to the following requirements: 

4 (1) TOP-LEVEL, INTERNATIONAL DOMAIN.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The new domain shall 

6 be established as a top-level, International do7 main having a domain name appropriate for its 

8 purpose. 

9 (B) DOMAIN NAME ENDING.—The new do10 main shall have domain name that ends in a 

11 manner that allows a user of the Internet to 

12 understand that by accessing such domain, a 

13 user is likely to view material that is harmful 

14 to minors, such as domain name ending in .xxx. 

15 (2) OPERATOR OF DOMAIN.—The entity se16 lected pursuant to section 3 to establish, operate, 

17 and maintain the new domain shall— 

18 (A) establish, operate, and maintain the 

19 new domain in accordance with this subsection; 

20 and 

21 (B) provide for the creation of an inde22 pendent board, with diverse membership, which 

23 shall be responsible for— 

24 (i) establishing written criteria for— 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•S 2426 IS

1 (I) accepting registrants for the 

2 new domain; and 

3 (II) any limitations applicable to 

4 the new domain; and 

5 (ii) ensuring that subscription rates or 

6 fees for obtaining a name for the new do7 main are as minimal as possible. 

8 (3) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The plan devel9 oped under subsection (a) may include such other 

10 requirements with respect to the new domain as the 

11 National Telecommunications and Information Ad12 ministration and ICANN jointly consider appro13 priate. 

14 SEC. 3. SELECTION OF OPERATOR OF NEW DOMAIN. 

15 (a) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The plan developed 

16 under section 2(a) shall establish a process for soliciting 

17 applications for the establishment of the new domain de18 scribed in section 2, which process shall— 

19 (1) commence and complete not later than 60 

20 days after the expiration of the 30-day period re21 ferred to in section 2(a); 

22 (2) provide adequate notice to prospective appli23 cants of— 

24 (A) the opportunity to submit an applica25 tion; and 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•S 2426 IS

1 (B) the criteria for selection under sub2 section (b)(1); 

3 (3) include a fee for filing an application that 

4 does not exceed the minimum amount reasonably es5 timated by ICANN to be necessary to recover its ex6 penses under section 2 and this section; and 

7 (4) provide for reimbursement to applicants of 

8 any amounts collected in filing fees that exceed the 

9 actual amount of expenses of ICANN under section 

10 2 and this section. 

11 (b) SELECTION PROCESS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The plan developed under 

13 section 2(a) shall establish a process for selection, 

14 from applications submitted pursuant to subsection 

15 (a), of an application for the establishment of the 

16 new domain meeting the requirements under section 

17 2(b). 

18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The selection process de19 scribed in paragraph (1) shall comply with the fol20 lowing requirements: 

21 (A) CRITERIA.—The selection shall be 

22 made pursuant to written, objective criteria de23 signed to ensure that— 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
6 

•S 2426 IS

1 (i) the new domain is established, op2 erated, and maintained in accordance with 

3 the requirements under section 2(b); and 

4 (ii) the entity selected to establish, op5 erate, and maintain the new domain is the 

6 applicant most capable and qualified to do 

7 so. 

8 (B) INITIAL REVIEW.—Not later than 60 

9 days after the completion of the application pe10 riod under subsection (a)(1), ICANN shall— 

11 (i) review and apply the selection cri12 teria established under subparagraph (A) 

13 to each application submitted; and 

14 (ii) based upon such criteria, select an 

15 application and award to the applicant a 

16 contract for the establishment, operation, 

17 and maintenance of the new domain, un18 less ICANN determines that no applicant 

19 could minimally provide for the establish20 ment, operation, and maintenance of the 

21 new domain in accordance with the re22 quirements under section 2(b). 

23 (C) SECOND APPLICATION PERIOD.—If no 

24 applicant is selected pursuant to subparagraph 

25 (B), not later than 30 days after the expiration 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
7 

•S 2426 IS

1 of the 60-day period under subparagraph (B), 

2 ICANN shall commence another application 

3 and selection process that complies with the re4 quirements under subsection (a) and this sub5 section. 

6 (D) REPORT.—If the second application 

7 and selection process under subparagraph (C) 

8 does not result in the award of a contract for 

9 the establishment, operation, and maintenance 

10 of the new domain, not later than 30 days after 

11 the conclusion of the 60-day period under sub12 paragraph (C), ICANN shall— 

13 (i) notify the Secretary of Commerce 

14 in writing of the failure to award a con15 tract under subparagraph (C); and 

16 (ii) submit to the Secretary of Com17 merce a report describing the application 

18 and selection process and setting forth the 

19 reasons for the failure to award the con20 tract. 

21 (c) FULL OPERATION.—The plan developed under 

22 section 2(a) shall provide for ICANN to take all actions 

23 necessary to facilitate the full operation of the new domain 

24 not later than 6 months after the award of the contract 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
8 

•S 2426 IS

1 for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of the 

2 new domain. 

3 (d) ANNUAL OVERSIGHT.—The plan developed under 

4 section 2(a) shall provide that ICANN shall, on an annual 

5 basis, review the actions of the entity selected to establish, 

6 operate, and maintain the new domain to ensure that such 

7 entity is complying with the requirements under section 

8 2(b). 

9 SEC. 4. USE OF NEW DOMAIN. 

10 Commencing not later than 6 months after the estab11 lishment of the new domain under section 2, any operator 

12 of a commercial Internet website or online service that has 

13 as its principal or primary business the making available 

14 of material that is harmful to minors shall register such 

15 website or online service with the new domain and operate 

16 such website or online service under the new domain. 

17 SEC. 5. LIABILITY PROTECTIONS. 

18 (a) TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER.—No 

19 person or entity that operates or maintains the new do20 main shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any 

21 information or material provided by another registrant 

22 under the domain. 

23 (b) CIVIL LIABILITY.—No person or entity that oper24 ates or maintains the new domain shall be held liable be25 cause of— 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
9 

•S 2426 IS

1 (1) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to 

2 restrict to minors access through the new domain to, 

3 or availability through the new domain of, material 

4 that is harmful to minors; or 

5 (2) any action taken to enable or make avail6 able to registrants to the new domain or others the 

7 technical means to restrict access by minors to ma8 terial described in paragraph (1). 

9 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 

10 (a) VIOLATION.—Any person who violates section 4, 

11 or any requirement, registration criteria, or limitation ap12 plicable to a registrant to the new domain under section 

13 2(b), shall be subject to such civil penalties as the Sec14 retary of Commerce shall prescribe. 

15 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce 

16 shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this title, 

17 including— 

18 (1) any requirements or limitations applicable 

19 to a registrant to the new domain under section 

20 2(b); and 

21 (2) the imposition and collection of civil pen22 alties under subsection (a). 

23 (c) PERIODIC AUDITS.—The Secretary of Commerce 

24 shall conduct periodic audits to ensure compliance with reVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:32 Mar 17, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2426.IS S2426

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
10 

•S 2426 IS

1 quirements, registration criteria, and limitations applica2 ble to the new domain under this title. 

3 SEC. 7. OUTREACH. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, act5 ing through the National Telecommunications and Infor6 mation Administration, shall carry out a program to pub7 licize the availability of the new domain under this title. 

8 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—The program under sub9 section (a) shall commence not later than 30 days after 

10 the date that the new domain first becomes operational 

11 and accessible by the public. 

12 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 

14 (1) ICANN.—The term ‘‘ICANN’’ means the 

15 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Num16 bers. 

17 (2) MATERIAL THAT IS HARMFUL TO MI18 NORS.—The term ‘‘material that is harmful to mi19 nors’’ means any communication, picture, image, 

20 graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or 

21 other matter of any kind that is obscene, or that a 

22 reasonable person would find— 

23 (A) taking the material as a whole and 

24 with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
11 

•S 2426 IS

1 or is designed to pander to, the prurient inter2 est; 

3 (B) depicts, describes, or represents, in a 

4 manner patently offensive with respect to mi5 nors— 

6 (i) an actual or simulated sexual act 

7 or sexual contact; 

8 (ii) an actual or simulated normal or 

9 perverted sexual act; or 

10 (iii) a lewd exhibition of the genitals 

11 or post-pubescent female breast; and 

12 (C) taking the material as a whole, lacks 

13 serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific 

14 value for minors. 

15 (3) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means any per16 son under 18 years of age. 

17 (4) NEW DOMAIN.—The term ‘‘new domain’’ 

18 means the Internet domain established under this 

19 title. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS