In the Senate of the United States,
November 13, 2002.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 3833) entitled ‘‘An Act to facilitate the creation
of a new, second-level Internet domain within the United
States country code domain that will be a haven for material
that promotes positive experiences for children and families
using the Internet, provides a safe online environment for
children, and helps to prevent children from being exposed to
harmful material on the Internet, and for other purposes.’’,
do pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dot Kids Implementa-
tion and Efficiency Act of 2002’’.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the World Wide Web presents a stimulating
and entertaining opportunity for children to learn,
grow, and develop educationally and intellectually;
(2) Internet technology also makes available an
extensive amount of information that is harmful to
children, as studies indicate that a significant portion
of all material available on the Internet is related to
pornography;
(3) young children, when trying to use the World
Wide Web for positive purposes, are often presented—
either mistakenly or intentionally—with material
that is inappropriate for their age, which can be ex-
tremely frustrating for children, parents, and edu-
cators;
(4) exposure of children to material that is inap-
propriate for them, including pornography, can dis-
tort the education and development of the Nation’s
youth and represents a serious harm to American
families that can lead to a host of other problems for
children, including inappropriate use of chat rooms,
physical molestation, harassment, and legal and fi-
nancial difficulties;
(5) young boys and girls, older teens, troubled
youth, frequent Internet users, chat room partici-
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pants, online risk takers, and those who communicate
online with strangers are at greater risk for receiving
unwanted sexual solicitation on the Internet;
(6) studies have shown that 19 percent of youth
(ages 10 to 17) who used the Internet regularly were
the targets of unwanted sexual solicitation, but less
than 10 percent of the solicitations were reported to
the police;
(7) children who come across illegal content
should report it to the congressionally authorized
CyberTipline, an online mechanism developed by the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
for citizens to report sexual crimes against children;
(8) the CyberTipline has received more than
64,400 reports, including reports of child pornog-
raphy, online enticement for sexual acts, child moles-
tation (outside the family), and child prostitution;
(9) although the computer software and hard-
ware industries, and other related industries, have de-
veloped innovative ways to help parents and edu-
cators restrict material that is harmful to minors
through parental control protections and self-regula-
tion, to date such efforts have not provided a national
solution to the problem of minors accessing harmful
material on the World Wide Web;
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SEC. 3. NTIA AUTHORITY.
Section 103(b)(3) of the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration Organization Act (47
U.S.C. 902(b)(3)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(C) shall assign to the NTIA responsibility
for providing for the establishment, and over-
seeing operation, of a second-level Internet do-
main within the United States country code do-
main in accordance with section 157.’’.
SEC. 4. CHILD-FRIENDLY SECOND-LEVEL INTERNET DO-
MAIN.
The National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.)
is amended in part C by adding at the end the following
new section:
‘‘SEC. 157. CHILD-FRIENDLY SECOND-LEVEL INTERNET DO-
MAIN.
‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The NTIA shall require the
registry selected to operate and maintain the United States
country code Internet domain to establish, operate, and
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maintain a second-level domain within the United States
country code domain that provides access only to material
that is suitable for minors and not harmful to minors (in
this section referred to as the ‘new domain’).
‘‘(b) CONDITIONS OF CONTRACTS.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL REGISTRY.—The NTIA shall not ex-
ercise any option periods under any contract between
the NTIA and the initial registry to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet do-
main unless the initial registry agrees, during the 90-
day period beginning upon the date of the enactment
of the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of
2002, to carry out, and to operate the new domain in
accordance with, the requirements under subsection
(c). Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
prevent the initial registry of the United States coun-
try code Internet domain from participating in the
NTIA’s process for selecting a successor registry or to
prevent the NTIA from awarding, to the initial reg-
istry, the contract to be successor registry subject to
the requirements of paragraph (2).
‘‘(2) SUCCESSOR REGISTRIES.—The NTIA shall
not enter into any contract for operating and main-
taining the United States country code Internet do-
main with any successor registry unless such registry
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enters into an agreement with the NTIA, during the
90-day period after selection of such registry, that
provides for the registry to carry out, and the new do-
main to operate in accordance with, the requirements
under subsection (c).
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS OF NEW DOMAIN.—The registry
and new domain shall be subject to the following require-
ments:
‘‘(1) Written content standards for the new do-
main, except that the NTIA shall not have any au-
thority to establish such standards.
‘‘(2) Written agreements with each registrar for
the new domain that require that use of the new do-
main is in accordance with the standards and re-
quirements of the registry.
‘‘(3) Written agreements with registrars, which
shall require registrars to enter into written agree-
ments with registrants, to use the new domain in ac-
cordance with the standards and requirements of the
registry.
‘‘(4) Rules and procedures for enforcement and
oversight that minimize the possibility that the new
domain provides access to content that is not in ac-
cordance with the standards and requirements of the
registry.
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‘‘(5) A process for removing from the new do-
main any content that is not in accordance with the
standards and requirements of the registry.
‘‘(6) A process to provide registrants to the new
domain with an opportunity for a prompt, expedi-
tious, and impartial dispute resolution process re-
garding any material of the registrant excluded from
the new domain.
‘‘(7) Continuous and uninterrupted service for
the new domain during any transition to a new reg-
istry selected to operate and maintain new domain or
the United States country code domain.
‘‘(8) Procedures and mechanisms to promote the
accuracy of contact information submitted by reg-
istrants and retained by registrars in the new do-
main.
‘‘(9) Operationality of the new domain not later
than one year after the date of the enactment of the
Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002.
‘‘(10) Written agreements with registrars, which
shall require registrars to enter into written agree-
ments with registrants, to prohibit two-way and
multiuser interactive services in the new domain, un-
less the registrant certifies to the registrar that such
service will be offered in compliance with the content
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standards established pursuant to paragraph (1) and
is designed to reduce the risk of exploitation of minors
using such two-way and multiuser interactive serv-
ices.
‘‘(11) Written agreements with registrars, which
shall require registrars to enter into written agree-
ments with registrants, to prohibit hyperlinks in the
new domain that take new domain users outside of
the new domain.
‘‘(12) Any other action that the NTIA considers
necessary to establish, operate, or maintain the new
domain in accordance with the purposes of this sec-
tion.
‘‘(d) OPTION PERIODS FOR INITIAL REGISTRY.—The
NTIA shall grant the initial registry the option periods
available under the contract between the NTIA and the ini-
tial registry to operate and maintain the United States
country code Internet domain if, and may not grant such
option periods unless, the NTIA finds that the initial reg-
istry has satisfactorily performed its obligations under this
Act and under the contract. Nothing in this section shall
preempt or alter the NTIA’s authority to terminate such
contract for the operation of the United States country code
Internet domain for cause or for convenience.
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‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF REGISTRY AND OTHER ENTI-
TIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Only to the extent that such
entities carry out functions under this section, the fol-
lowing entities are deemed to be interactive computer
services for purposes of section 230(c) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)):
‘‘(A) The registry that operates and main-
tains the new domain.
‘‘(B) Any entity that contracts with such
registry to carry out functions to ensure that
content accessed through the new domain com-
plies with the limitations applicable to the new
domain.
‘‘(C) Any registrar for the registry of the
new domain that is operating in compliance
with its agreement with the registry.
‘‘(2) SAVINGS
PROVISION.—Nothing in para-
graph (1) shall be construed to affect the applicability
of any other provision of title II of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 to the entities covered by subpara-
graph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).
‘‘(f) EDUCATION.—The NTIA shall carry out a pro-
gram to publicize the availability of the new domain and
to educate the parents of minors regarding the process for
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utilizing the new domain in combination and coordination
with hardware and software technologies that provide for
filtering or blocking. The program under this subsection
shall be commenced not later than 30 days after the date
that the new domain first becomes operational and acces-
sible by the public.
‘‘(g) COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—
The registry selected to operate and maintain the new do-
main shall—
‘‘(1) consult with appropriate agencies of the
Federal Government regarding procedures and actions
to prevent minors and families who use the new do-
main from being targeted by adults and other chil-
dren for predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal
actions; and
‘‘(2) based upon the consultations conducted pur-
suant to paragraph (1), establish such procedures and
take such actions as the registry may deem necessary
to prevent such targeting.
The consultations, procedures, and actions required under
this subsection shall be commenced not later than 30 days
after the date that the new domain first becomes operational
and accessible by the public.
‘‘(h) COMPLIANCE REPORT.—The registry shall pre-
pare, on an annual basis, a report on the registry’s moni-
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toring and enforcement procedures for the new domain. The
registry shall submit each such report, setting forth the re-
sults of the review of its monitoring and enforcement proce-
dures for the new domain, to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate.
‘‘(i) SUSPENSION
OF NEW DOMAIN.—If the NTIA
finds, pursuant to its own review or upon a good faith peti-
tion by the registry, that the new domain is not serving
its intended purpose, the NTIA shall instruct the registry
to suspend operation of the new domain until such time
as the NTIA determines that the new domain can be oper-
ated as intended.
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the
following definitions shall apply:
‘‘(1) HARMFUL TO MINORS.—The term ‘harmful
to minors’ means, with respect to material, that—
‘‘(A) the average person, applying contem-
porary community standards, would find, taking
the material as a whole and with respect to mi-
nors, that it is designed to appeal to, or is de-
signed to pander to, the prurient interest;
‘‘(B) the material depicts, describes, or rep-
resents, in a manner patently offensive with re-
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spect to minors, an actual or simulated sexual
act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated
normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhi-
bition of the genitals or post-pubescent female
breast; and
‘‘(C) taken as a whole, the material lacks se-
rious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific
value for minors.
‘‘(2) MINOR.—The term ‘minor’ means any per-
son under 13 years of age.
‘‘(3) REGISTRY.—The term ‘registry’ means the
registry selected to operate and maintain the United
States country code Internet domain.
‘‘(4) SUCCESSOR REGISTRY.—The term ‘successor
registry’ means any entity that enters into a contract
with the NTIA to operate and maintain the United
States country code Internet domain that covers any
period after the termination or expiration of the con-
tract to operate and maintain the United States
country code Internet domain, and any option peri-
ods under such contract, that was signed on October
26, 2001.
‘‘(5) SUITABLE FOR MINORS.—The term ‘suitable
for minors’ means, with respect to material, that it—
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‘‘(A) is not psychologically or intellectually
inappropriate for minors; and
‘‘(B) serves—
‘‘(i) the educational, informational, in-
tellectual, or cognitive needs of minors; or
‘‘(ii) the social, emotional, or enter-
tainment needs of minors.’’.
Attest:
Secretary.