I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1846

To amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 to require schools

and libraries receiving universal service assistance to block access to

Internet services that enable users to access the World Wide Web and

transfer electronic mail in an anonymous manner.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 2001

Mr. GRUCCI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934

to require schools and libraries receiving universal service

assistance to block access to Internet services that enable

users to access the World Wide Web and transfer electronic mail in an anonymous manner.

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 ‘‘Who Is E-Mailing Our

5 Kids Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES TO

2 ENFORCE POLICIES AGAINST ANONYMOUS

3 INTERNET CONNECTION AS CONDITION OF

4 UNIVERSAL SERVICE DISCOUNTS.

5 (a) SCHOOLS.—Section 254(h)(5) of the Communica6 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(5)) is amended—

7 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

8 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by in9 serting ‘‘AND PREVENTION OF ANONYMOUS

10 INTERNET ACCESS’’ after ‘‘INTERNET SAFETY’’;

11 (B) in clause (i)—

12 (i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and

13 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (C), and (D)’’;

14 (ii) in subclause (II), by striking

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end;

16 (iii) by redesignating subclause (III)

17 as subclause (IV); and

18 (iv) by inserting after subclause (II)

19 the following new subclause:

20 ‘‘(III) submits to the Commission

21 a certification that a policy of regard22 ing anonymous Internet connection

23 has been adopted and implemented for

24 the school under subsection (m);

25 and’’; and
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1 (C) in the first sentence of clause (iii), by

2 inserting before the period the following: ‘‘, and

3 shall provide reasonable public notice and hold

4 at least one public hearing or meeting to ad5 dress the proposed policy of regarding anony6 mous Internet connection’’;

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E),

8 and (F) as subparagraphs (E), (F), and (H), respec9 tively;

10 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol11 lowing new subparagraph:

12 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION REGARDING BLOCK13 ING ONLINE PRIVACY SERVICES.—A certifi14 cation under this subparagraph is a certifi15 cation that the school, school board, local edu16 cational agency, or other authority with respon17 sibility for administration of the school—

18 ‘‘(i) is enforcing a policy regarding

19 anonymous Internet connection that in20 cludes the operation of a technology pro21 tection measure with respect to any of its

22 computers with Internet access that pre23 vents use of such computers to access an

24 online privacy service that enables a user—
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1 ‘‘(I) to send electronic mail anon2 ymously; or

3 ‘‘(II) to access the World Wide

4 Web anonymously; and

5 ‘‘(ii) is enforcing the operation of such

6 technology protection measure during any

7 use of such computers.’’;

8 (4) in the heading for subparagraph (F) (as so

9 redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection), by

10 inserting ‘‘OF INTERNET SAFETY MEASURES’’ after

11 ‘‘IMPLEMENTATION’’;

12 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (F) (as so

13 redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection)

14 the following new subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(G) TIMING OF IMPLEMENTATION OF

16 MEASURES TO PREVENT ANONYMOUS INTERNET

17 ACCESS.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

19 (ii), in the case of any school covered by

20 this paragraph as of the effective date of

21 this paragraph under section 2(e) of the

22 Who Is E-Mailing Our Kids Act, the cer23 tification under subparagraph (D) shall be

24 made—
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1 ‘‘(I) with respect to the first pro2 gram funding year under this sub3 section following such effective date,

4 not later than 120 days after the be5 ginning of such program funding year;

6 and

7 ‘‘(II) with respect to any subse8 quent program funding year, as part

9 of the application process for such

10 program funding year.

11 ‘‘(ii) PROCESS.—

12 ‘‘(I) SCHOOLS WITH POLICY AND

13 TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION MEASURES

14 IN PLACE FOR PREVENTING ANONY15 MOUS INTERNET ACCESS.—A school

16 covered by clause (i) that has in place

17 a policy regarding anonymous Inter18 net connection and technology protec19 tion measures that meet the require20 ments necessary for certification

21 under subparagraph (D) shall certify

22 its compliance with subparagraph (D)

23 during each annual program applica24 tion cycle under this subsection, ex25 cept that with respect to the first pro-
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1 gram funding year after the effective

2 date of this paragraph under section

3 2(e) of the Who Is E-Mailing Our

4 Kids Act, the certifications shall be

5 made not later than 120 days after

6 the beginning of such first program

7 funding year.

8 ‘‘(II) SCHOOLS WITHOUT POLICY

9 AND TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION MEAS10 URES IN PLACE FOR PREVENTING

11 ANONYMOUS INTERNET ACCESS.—A

12 school covered by clause (i) that does

13 not have in place a policy regarding

14 anonymous Internet connection and

15 technology protection measures that

16 meet the requirements necessary for

17 certification under subparagraph

18 (D)—

19 ‘‘(aa) for the first program

20 year after the effective date of

21 this subsection in which it is ap22 plying for funds under this sub23 section, shall certify that it is un24 dertaking such actions, including

25 any necessary procurement pro-
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1 cedures, to put in place a policy

2 and technology protection meas3 ures meeting the requirements

4 necessary for certification under

5 subparagraph (D); and

6 ‘‘(bb) for the second pro7 gram year after the effective date

8 of this subsection in which it is

9 applying for funds under this

10 subsection, shall certify that it is

11 in compliance with subparagraph

12 (D).

13 Any school that is unable to certify

14 compliance with such requirements in

15 such second program year shall be in16 eligible for services at discount rates

17 or funding in lieu of services at such

18 rates under this subsection for such

19 second year and all subsequent pro20 gram years under this subsection,

21 until such time as such school comes

22 into compliance with this paragraph.

23 ‘‘(III) WAIVERS.—Any school

24 subject to subclause (II) that cannot

25 come into compliance with subpara-
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1 graph (D) in such second year pro2 gram may seek a waiver of subclause

3 (II)(bb) if State or local procurement

4 rules or regulations or competitive

5 bidding requirements prevent the

6 making of the certification otherwise

7 required by such subclause. A school,

8 school board, local educational agency,

9 or other authority with responsibility

10 for administration of the school shall

11 notify the Commission of the applica12 bility of such subclause to the school.

13 Such notice shall certify that the

14 school in question will be brought into

15 compliance before the start of the

16 third program year after the effective

17 date of this subsection in which the

18 school is applying for funds under this

19 subsection.’’; and

20 (6) in subparagraph (H)(ii) (as so redesignated

21 by paragraph (2) of this subsection), by striking

22 ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub23 paragraph (B), (C), or (D)’’.

24 (b) LIBRARIES.—Section 254(h)(6) of the Commu25 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6)) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

2 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by in3 serting ‘‘AND PREVENTION OF ANONYMOUS

4 INTERNET ACCESS’’ after ‘‘INTERNET SAFETY’’;

5 (B) in clause (i)—

6 (i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and

7 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (C), and (D)’’;

8 (ii) in subclause (II), by striking

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end;

10 (iii) by redesignating subclause (III)

11 as subclause (IV); and

12 (iv) by inserting after subclause (II)

13 the following new subclause:

14 ‘‘(III) submits to the Commission

15 a certification that a policy regarding

16 anonymous Internet connection has

17 been adopted and implemented for the

18 library under subsection (m); and’’;

19 and

20 (B) in the first sentence of clause (iii), by

21 inserting before the period the following: ‘‘, and

22 shall provide reasonable public notice and hold

23 at least one public hearing or meeting to ad24 dress the proposed policy regarding anonymous

25 Internet connection’’;
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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E),

2 and (F) as subparagraphs (E), (F), and (H), respec3 tively;

4 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol5 lowing new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION REGARDING BLOCK7 ING ONLINE PRIVACY SERVICES.—A certifi8 cation under this subparagraph is a certifi9 cation that the library—

10 ‘‘(i) is enforcing a policy regarding

11 anonymous Internet connection that in12 cludes the operation of a technology pro13 tection measure with respect to any of its

14 computers with Internet access that pre15 vents use of such computers to access an

16 online privacy service that enables a user—

17 ‘‘(I) to send electronic mail anon18 ymously; or

19 ‘‘(II) to access the World Wide

20 Web anonymously; and

21 ‘‘(ii) is enforcing the operation of such

22 technology protection measure during any

23 use of such computers.’’;

24 (4) in the heading for subparagraph (F) (as so

25 redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection), by
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1 inserting ‘‘OF INTERNET SAFETY MEASURES’’ after

2 ‘‘IMPLEMENTATION’’;

3 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (F) (as so

4 redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection)

5 the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(G) TIMING OF IMPLEMENTATION OF

7 MEASURES TO PREVENT ANONYMOUS INTERNET

8 ACCESS.—

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

10 (ii), in the case of any library covered by

11 this paragraph as of the effective date of

12 this paragraph under section 2(e) of the

13 Who Is E-Mailing Our Kids Act, the cer14 tification under subparagraph (D) shall be

15 made—

16 ‘‘(I) with respect to the first pro17 gram funding year under this sub18 section following such effective date,

19 not later than 120 days after the be20 ginning of such program funding year;

21 and

22 ‘‘(II) with respect to any subse23 quent program funding year, as part

24 of the application process for such

25 program funding year.
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1 ‘‘(ii) PROCESS.—

2 ‘‘(I) LIBRARIES WITH POLICY

3 AND TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION MEAS4 URES IN PLACE FOR PREVENTING

5 ANONYMOUS INTERNET ACCESS.—A

6 library covered by clause (i) that has

7 in place a policy regarding anonymous

8 Internet connection and technology

9 protection measures that meet the re10 quirements necessary for certification

11 under subparagraph (D) shall certify

12 its compliance with subparagraph (D)

13 during each annual program applica14 tion cycle under this subsection, ex15 cept that with respect to the first pro16 gram funding year after the effective

17 date of this paragraph under section

18 2(e) of the Who Is E-Mailing Our

19 Kids Act, the certifications shall be

20 made not later than 120 days after

21 the beginning of such first program

22 funding year.

23 ‘‘(II) LIBRARIES WITHOUT POL24 ICY AND TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION

25 MEASURES IN PLACE FOR PRE-
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1 VENTING ANONYMOUS INTERNET AC2 CESS.—A library covered by clause (i)

3 that does not have in place a policy

4 regarding anonymous Internet connec5 tion and technology protection meas6 ures that meet the requirements nec7 essary for certification under subpara8 graph (D)—

9 ‘‘(aa) for the first program

10 year after the effective date of

11 this subsection in which it is ap12 plying for funds under this sub13 section, shall certify that it is un14 dertaking such actions, including

15 any necessary procurement pro16 cedures, to put in place a policy

17 and technology protection meas18 ures meeting the requirements

19 necessary for certification under

20 subparagraph (D); and

21 ‘‘(bb) for the second pro22 gram year after the effective date

23 of this subsection in which it is

24 applying for funds under this

25 subsection, shall certify that it is
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1 in compliance with subparagraph

2 (D).

3 Any library that is unable to certify

4 compliance with such requirements in

5 such second program year shall be in6 eligible for services at discount rates

7 or funding in lieu of services at such

8 rates under this subsection for such

9 second year and all subsequent pro10 gram years under this subsection,

11 until such time as such library comes

12 into compliance with this paragraph.

13 ‘‘(III) WAIVERS.—Any library

14 subject to subclause (II) that cannot

15 come into compliance with subpara16 graph (D) in such second year pro17 gram may seek a waiver of subclause

18 (II)(bb) if State or local procurement

19 rules or regulations or competitive

20 bidding requirements prevent the

21 making of the certification otherwise

22 required by such subclause. A library,

23 library board, or other authority with

24 responsibility for administration of the

25 library shall notify the Commission of
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1 the applicability of such subclause to

2 the library. Such notice shall certify

3 that the library in question will be

4 brought into compliance before the

5 start of the third program year after

6 the effective date of this subsection in

7 which the library is applying for funds

8 under this subsection.’’; and

9 (6) in subparagraph (H)(ii) (as so redesignated

10 by paragraph (2) of this subsection), by striking

11 ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub12 paragraph (B), (C), or (D)’’.

13 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 254(h)(7) of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(7)) is amended—

15 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through

16 (I) as subparagraphs (B) through (J), respectively;

17 and

18 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (B) (as so

19 redesignated) the following new subparagraph:

20 ‘‘(A) ANONYMOUSLY.—The term ‘anony21 mously’ means—

22 ‘‘(i) with respect to sending of elec23 tronic mail, in a manner that prevents—
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1 ‘‘(I) anyone receiving such mail

2 from accessing the electronic mail ad3 dress of the sender; or

4 ‘‘(II) the creation or recording,

5 by the computer used for sending the

6 electronic mail, of a record that the

7 mail was sent, of the content of the

8 mail, of the address to which the mail

9 was sent, or of the time, date, or

10 sender of the mail; and

11 ‘‘(ii) with respect to accessing the

12 World Wide Web, in a manner that pre13 vents the creation or recording, by the

14 computer used for such access or by the

15 network of which such computer is a part,

16 of any record of the World Wide Web sites

17 accessed by such computer or the identity

18 of the user who, or account that, accessed

19 such web sites.’’.

20 (d) REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES OF

21 POLICY REGARDING ANONYMOUS INTERNET ACCESS.—

22 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

23 U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the following

24 new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(m) REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES

2 OF POLICY REGARDING ANONYMOUS INTERNET AC3 CESS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out its respon5 sibilities under subsection (h), each school or library

6 to which subsection (h) applies shall—

7 ‘‘(A) adopt and implement a policy regard8 ing anonymous Internet connection that

9 addresses—

10 ‘‘(i) the use of the computers of the

11 school or library to obtain inappropriate

12 anonymous access to the Internet and the

13 World Wide Web or to inappropriately

14 send electronic mail anonymously; and

15 ‘‘(ii) measures designed to restrict ac16 cess to any online privacy service that en17 ables a user—

18 ‘‘(I) to send electronic mail anon19 ymously; or

20 ‘‘(II) to access the World Wide

21 Web anonymous; and

22 ‘‘(B) provide reasonable public notice and

23 hold at least one public hearing or meeting to

24 address the proposed policy regarding anony25 mous Internet access.
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1 ‘‘(2) LOCAL DETERMINATION OF ONLINE PRI2 VACY SERVICE.—A determination regarding what is

3 inappropriate anonymous access to the Internet and

4 the World Wide Web or what is inappropriate send5 ing of electronic mail anonymously shall be made by

6 the school board, local educational agency, library,

7 or other authority responsible for making the deter8 mination. No agency or instrumentality of the

9 United States Government may—

10 ‘‘(A) establish criteria for making such de11 termination;

12 ‘‘(B) review the determination made by the

13 certifying school, school board, local educational

14 agency, library, or other authority; or

15 ‘‘(C) consider the criteria employed by the

16 certifying school, school board, local educational

17 agency, library, or other authority in the ad18 ministration of subsection (h)(1)(B).

19 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY FOR REVIEW.—Each policy

20 regarding anonymous Internet access adopted under

21 this subsection shall be made available to the Com22 mission, upon request of the Commission, by the

23 school, school board, local educational agency, li24 brary, or other authority responsible for adopting

25 such Internet safety policy for purposes of the re-
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1 view of such Internet safety policy by the Commis2 sion.

3 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall

4 apply with respect to schools and libraries on or

5 after the date that is 120 days after the date of the

6 enactment of the Who Is E-Mailing Our Kids Act.’’.

7 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

8 this section shall take effect 120 days after the date of

9 the enactment of this Act.

Æ