I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4982 

To improve public awareness in the United States regarding safe use of 

the Internet through the establishment of an Office of Internet Safety 

and Public Awareness within the Federal Trade Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2006 

Ms. BEAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To improve public awareness in the United States regarding 

safe use of the Internet through the establishment of 

an Office of Internet Safety and Public Awareness within 

the Federal Trade Commission. 

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 ‘‘Safeguarding Amer5 ica’s Families by Enhancing and Reorganizing New and 

6 Efficient Technologies Act of 2006’’ or the ‘‘SAFER NET 

7 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE. 

2 The Federal Trade Commission shall establish an Of3 fice of Internet Safety and Public Awareness, which shall 

4 have responsibility for programs and activities relating to 

5 increasing public awareness and providing education re6 garding Internet safety. 

7 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR. 

8 The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall 

9 be appointed by the Commission. 

10 SEC. 4. INTERNET SAFETY. 

11 For purposes of this Act, the issue of Internet safety 

12 includes issues regarding use of the Internet in a manner 

13 that promotes safe online activity, including safe trans14 actions involved in online commerce, and protects against 

15 threats to financial information and privacy, threats from 

16 cyber-crime, and threats to juveniles, including cyber17 predators and material that is inappropriate for minors. 

18 SEC. 5. DUTIES. 

19 (a) ACTIVITIES.—The Commission, acting through 

20 the Office, shall carry out a nationwide program to in21 crease public awareness and education regarding Internet 

22 safety, for families, businesses, organizations, and other 

23 users, that utilizes existing resources and efforts of the 

24 Federal Government, State and local governments, non25 profit organizations, private technology and financial comVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:14 Mar 18, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4982.IH H4982

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1 panies, Internet service providers, World Wide Web-based 

2 resources, and other appropriate entities, that includes— 

3 (1) evaluating Internet safety efforts and activi4 ties provided at various levels of government and by 

5 other entities; 

6 (2) improving efficiency of Internet safety ef7 forts and activities, by eliminating redundancy of ef8 forts at various levels of government and other enti9 ties, identifying, promoting, and expanding effective 

10 such efforts and activities and coordinating among 

11 such efforts and activities; 

12 (3) identifying, promoting, and encouraging 

13 best practices for Internet safety; 

14 (4) establishing and carrying out a national 

15 outreach and education campaign regarding Internet 

16 safety utilizing various media and Internet-based re17 sources; 

18 (5) serving as the primary contact in the Fed19 eral Government, and as a national clearinghouse, 

20 for information and public awareness efforts regard21 ing Internet safety; 

22 (6) facilitating access to, and the exchange of, 

23 information regarding Internet safety to promote up24 to-date knowledge regarding current issues; 


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1 (7) providing expert advice and consultation to 

2 the Commission regarding Internet safety issues; 

3 and 

4 (8) providing assistance, including technical as5 sistance and financial assistance under subsection 

6 (c), to States, units of local government, schools, po7 lice departments, non-profit organizations, and such 

8 other entities as the Office considers appropriate to 

9 promote Internet safety education and public aware10 ness. 

11 (b) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 

12 (1) AUTHORITY.—In carrying out subsection 

13 (b), the Commission, acting through the Office, may 

14 make grants, to the extent amounts are provided in 

15 advance in appropriation Acts for such grants, to, 

16 and enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, 

17 and interagency agreements with States, units of 

18 local government, schools, police departments, non19 profit organizations, and such other public and pri20 vate agencies, entities, and organizations as the Of21 fice considers appropriate. 

22 (2) EVALUATION.—The Commission, acting 

23 through the Office, shall provide for evaluations of 

24 projects and activities carried out with financial as25 sistance provided under paragraph (1) and for the 


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1 dissemination of information developed as a result of 

2 such projects. 

3 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

4 The Commission, acting through the Office, shall 

5 submit a report not later than March 31 of each year 

6 that— 

7 (1) describes the activities of the Office during 

8 the preceding calendar year; 

9 (2) contains any evaluations performed pursu10 ant to subsection (c)(2) for any projects and activi11 ties carried out during the preceding calendar with 

12 assistance under subsection (c)(1); 

13 (3) describes and analyzes the current state, as 

14 of the preparation of such report, of Internet safety, 

15 existing and emerging threats to Internet safety, and 

16 costs to the economy of the United States resulting 

17 from preventing, responding to, eliminating, and 

18 otherwise dealing with threats to Internet safety. 

19 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

20 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

21 shall apply: 

22 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

23 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

24 (2) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ means 

25 collectively the myriad of computer and teleVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:14 Mar 18, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4982.IH H4982

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1 communications facilities, including equipment and 

2 operating software, which comprise the inter3 connected world-wide network of networks that em4 ploy the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet 

5 Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols 

6 to such protocol, to communicate information of all 

7 kinds by wire or radio. 

8 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of9 fice of Internet Safety and Public Awareness of the 

10 Federal Trade Commission, established by section 2. 

Æ 


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