I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1120 

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 

FEBRUARY 16, 2007 

Mr. KIRK (for himself, Mr. MATHESON, Mrs. BIGGERT, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. 

ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. KUHL of New 

York, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. GERLACH, and Mr. ROSKAM) 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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

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1 (1) sexual predators approach minors on the 

2 Internet using chat rooms and social networking 

3 websites, and, according to the United States Attor4 ney General, one in five children has been ap5 proached sexually on the Internet; 

6 (2) sexual predators can use these chat rooms 

7 and websites to locate, learn about, befriend, and 

8 eventually prey on children by engaging them in sex9 ually explicit conversations, asking for photographs, 

10 and attempting to lure children into a face to face 

11 meeting; and 

12 (3) with the explosive growth of trendy chat 

13 rooms and social networking websites, it is becoming 

14 more and more difficult to monitor and protect mi15 nors from those with devious intentions, particularly 

16 when children are away from parental supervision. 

17 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATIONS TO INCLUDE PROTECTIONS 

18 AGAINST COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING 

19 WEBSITES AND CHAT ROOMS. 

20 (a) CERTIFICATION BY SCHOOLS.—Section 

21 254(h)(5)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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

23 and inserting the following: 

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

25 safety for minors that includes monitoring 

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1 the online activities of minors and the op2 eration of a technology protection measure 

3 with respect to any of its computers with 

4 Internet access that— 

5 ‘‘(I) protects against access 

6 through such computers to visual de7 pictions that are— 

8 ‘‘(aa) obscene; 

9 ‘‘(bb) child pornography; or 

10 ‘‘(cc) harmful to minors; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) protects against access to a 

13 commercial social networking website 

14 or chat room unless used for an edu15 cational purpose with adult super16 vision; and’’. 

17 (b) CERTIFICATION BY LIBRARIES.—Section 

18 254(h)(6)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6)(B)) is 

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

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

21 safety that includes the operation of a 

22 technology protection measure with respect 

23 to any of its computers with Internet ac24 cess that— 

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1 ‘‘(I) protects against access 

2 through such computers to visual de3 pictions that are— 

4 ‘‘(aa) obscene; 

5 ‘‘(bb) child pornography; or 

6 ‘‘(cc) harmful to minors; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) protects against access by 

9 minors without parental authorization 

10 to a commercial social networking 

11 website or chat room, and informs 

12 parents that sexual predators can use 

13 these websites and chat rooms to prey 

14 on children; and’’. 

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

16 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING

18 WEBSITES; CHAT ROOMS.—Within 120 days 

19 after the date of enactment of the Deleting On20 line Predators Act of 2007, the Commission 

21 shall by rule define the terms ‘social networking 

22 website’ and ‘chat room’ for purposes of this 

23 subsection. In determining the definition of a 

24 social networking website, the Commission shall 

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1 take into consideration the extent to which a 

2 website— 

3 ‘‘(i) is offered by a commercial entity; 

4 ‘‘(ii) permits registered users to create 

5 an on-line profile that includes detailed 

6 personal information; 

7 ‘‘(iii) permits registered users to cre8 ate an on-line journal and share such a 

9 journal with other users; 

10 ‘‘(iv) elicits highly-personalized infor11 mation from users; and 

12 ‘‘(v) enables communication among 

13 users.’’. 

14 (d) DISABLING DURING ADULT OR EDUCATIONAL

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

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

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

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

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

20 with adult supervision to enable access for edu21 cational purposes pursuant to subparagraph 

22 (B)(i)(II)’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. FTC CONSUMER ALERT ON INTERNET DANGERS TO 

2 CHILDREN. 

3 (a) INFORMATION REGARDING CHILD PREDATORS

4 AND THE INTERNET.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis6 sion shall— 

7 (1) issue a consumer alert regarding the poten8 tial dangers to children of Internet child predators, 

9 including the potential danger of commercial social 

10 networking websites and chat rooms through which 

11 personal information about child users of such 

12 websites may be accessed by child predators; and 

13 (2) establish a website to serve as a resource 

14 for information for parents, teachers and school ad15 ministrators, and others regarding the potential dan16 gers posed by the use of the Internet by children, in17 cluding information about commercial social net18 working websites and chat rooms through which per19 sonal information about child users of such websites 

20 may be accessed by child predators. 

21 (b) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING

22 WEBSITES.—For purposes of the requirements under sub23 section (a), the terms ‘‘commercial social networking 

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

25 terms pursuant to section 254(h)(7)(J) of the Commumstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(7)(J)), as 

2 amended by this Act. 

Æ 

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