I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5319 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal 

service support for schools and libraries to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2006 

Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. MILLER of 

Michigan, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal service support for schools and libraries 

to protect minors from commercial social networking 

websites and chat rooms. 

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 ‘‘Deleting Online Preda5 tors Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATIONS TO INCLUDE PROTECTIONS 

2 AGAINST COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING 

3 WEBSITES AND CHAT ROOMS. 

4 (a) CERTIFICATION BY SCHOOLS.—Section 

5 254(h)(5)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

6 U.S.C. 254(h)(5)(B)) is amended by striking clause (i) 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet 

9 safety for minors that includes monitoring 

10 the online activities of minors and the op11 eration of a technology protection measure 

12 with respect to any of its computers with 

13 Internet access that— 

14 ‘‘(I) protects against access 

15 through such computers to visual de16 pictions that are— 

17 ‘‘(aa) obscene; 

18 ‘‘(bb) child pornography; or 

19 ‘‘(cc) harmful to minors; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) prohibits access to a com22 mercial social networking website or 

23 chat room through which minors— 

24 ‘‘(aa) may easily access or 

25 be presented with obscene or in26 decent material; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) may easily be subject 

2 to unlawful sexual advances, un3 lawful requests for sexual favors, 

4 or repeated offensive comments 

5 of a sexual nature from adults; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(cc) may easily access other 

8 material that is harmful to mi9 nors; and’’. 

10 (b) CERTIFICATION BY LIBRARIES.—Section 

11 254(h)(6)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6)(B)) is 

12 amended by striking clause (i) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet 

14 safety that includes the operation of a 

15 technology protection measure with respect 

16 to any of its computers with Internet ac17 cess that— 

18 ‘‘(I) protects against access 

19 through such computers to visual de20 pictions that are— 

21 ‘‘(aa) obscene; 

22 ‘‘(bb) child pornography; or 

23 ‘‘(cc) harmful to minors; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) prohibits access by minors 

2 without parental authorization to a 

3 commercial social networking website 

4 or chat room through which minors— 

5 ‘‘(aa) may easily access or 

6 be presented with obscene or in7 decent material; 

8 ‘‘(bb) may easily be subject 

9 to unlawful sexual advances, un10 lawful requests for sexual favors, 

11 or repeated offensive comments 

12 of a sexual nature from adults; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(cc) may easily access other 

15 material that is harmful to mi16 nors; and’’. 

17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 254(h)(7) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

19 ‘‘(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING

20 WEBSITES.—The term ‘commercial social net21 working website’ means a commercially oper22 ated Internet website that— 

23 ‘‘(i) allows users to create web pages 

24 or profiles that provide information about 


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1 themselves and are available to other 

2 users; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) offers a mechanism for commu4 nication with other users, such as a forum, 

5 chat room, email, or instant messenger. 

6 ‘‘(K) CHAT ROOMS.—The term ‘chat 

7 rooms’ means Internet websites through which 

8 a number of users can communicate in real 

9 time via text and that allow messages to be al10 most immediately visible to all other users or to 

11 a designated segment of all other users.’’. 

12 (d) DISABLING DURING ADULT OR EDUCATIONAL

13 USE.—Section 254(h)(5)(D) of such Act is amended— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘OR EDUCATIONAL’’ after 

15 ‘‘DURING ADULT’’ in the heading; and 

16 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

17 following: ‘‘or during use by an adult or by minors 

18 with adult supervision to enable access for edu19 cational purposes’’ . 

20 (e) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY BOARD.—The 

21 Federal Communications Commission shall establish an 

22 advisory board, which shall consist of 8 members ap23 pointed by the Chairman of the Commission. Four of such 

24 members shall be representative of the private sector and 

25 four of such members shall be representative of the ComVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:52 May 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5319.IH H5319

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1 mission, the National Center for Missing and Exploited 

2 Children, the Crimes against Children Research Center, 

3 school boards, and primary and secondary school edu4 cators, respectively. The Commission shall provide admin5 istrative and clerical support to the advisory board, but 

6 members of the board shall serve without compensation. 

7 The advisory board shall be terminated at the direction 

8 of the Chairman of the Commission. 

9 (f) PUBLICATION.—After consultation with the advi10 sory board established under subsection (e) and appro11 priate agencies with experience regarding procedures and 

12 actions to prevent minors from being target by adults for 

13 predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal actions, the 

14 Federal Communications Commission shall annually pub15 lish a list of commercial social networking websites and 

16 chat rooms that have been shown to allow sexual predators 

17 easy access to personal information of, and contact with, 

18 children. 

19 SEC. 3. FTC CONSUMER ALERT ON INTERNET DANGERS TO 

20 CHILDREN. 

21 (a) INFORMATION REGARDING CHILD PREDATORS

22 AND THE INTERNET.—Not later than 90 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis24 sion shall— 


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1 (1) issue a consumer alert regarding the poten2 tial dangers to children of Internet child predators, 

3 including the potential danger of commercial social 

4 networking websites and chat rooms through which 

5 personal information about child users of such 

6 websites may be accessed by child predators; and 

7 (2) establish a website with a distinctive Uni8 form Resource Locator to serve as a resource for in9 formation for parents, teachers and school adminis10 trators, and others regarding the potential dangers 

11 posed by the use of the Internet by children, includ12 ing information about commercial social networking 

13 websites and chat rooms through which personal in14 formation about child users of such websites may be 

15 accessed by child predators. 

16 (b) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING

17 WEBSITES.—For purposes of the requirements under sub18 section (a), the terms ‘‘commercial social networking 

19 website’’ and ‘‘chat room’’ have the meanings given such 

20 terms in section 254(h)(7) of the Communications Act of 

21 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(7)), as amended by this Act. 

Æ 


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