I think it's good that politicians are beginning to recognize that the complexity of the Internet takes it beyond the capacity of top-down regulation to address. Currently, the federal government taxes local phone service to subsidize Internet connections for schools and libraries. Chairman William Kennard said organizations receiving e-rate cash should have rules governing the acceptable use of the connection. Although he did not explicitly endorse filters as the sole solution, Kennard's comments were widely interpreted as extending the FCC's blessing to a technology that has been plagued with problems. Legitimate sites are often blocked by the software sold by firms like CyberPatrol, NetNanny, and SurfWatch, and one federal judge has ruled that their use in a public library violates the First Amendment.
Critics question tying e-rate cash to filtering.
Internet blocking and filtering software like NetNanny is already used by about one-third of parents with kids age 8 to 17, according to a survey by the University of Pennsylvania released Tuesday. The White House also plans to hold a youth violence summit next week with representatives of the Internet, entertainment, and gun industries. Police, government, and religious leaders are also expected to attend. Reuters contributed to this report. Send it .