I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1978
To encourage and protect private sector initiatives that improve user control
over computer information services.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 30, 1995
Mr. COX of California (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To encourage and protect private sector initiatives that
improve user control over computer information services.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Freedom and
Family Empowerment Act’’.
SEC. 2. ONLINE FAMILY EMPOWERMENT.
Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 230. PROTECTION FOR PRIVATE BLOCKING AND
SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL; FCC
CONTENT AND ECONOMIC REGULATION OF
COMPUTER SERVICES PROHIBITED.
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
‘‘(1) The rapidly developing array of Internet
and other interactive computer services available to
individual Americans represent an extraordinary ad-
vance in the availability of educational and informa-
tional resources to our citizens.
‘‘(2) These services offer users a great degree
of control over the information that they receive, as
well as the potential for even greater control in the
future as technology develops.
‘‘(3) The Internet and other interactive com-
puter services offer a forum for a true diversity of
political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural
development, and myriad avenues for intellectual ac-
tivity.
‘‘(4) The Internet and other interactive com-
puter services have flourished, to the benefit of all
Americans, with a minimum of government regula-
tion.
‘‘(5) Increasingly Americans are relying on
interactive media for a variety of political, edu-
cational, cultural, and entertainment services.
‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States
to—
‘‘(1) promote the continued development of the
Internet and other interactive computer services and
other interactive media;
‘‘(2) preserve the vibrant and competitive free
market that presently exists for the Internet and
other interactive computer services, unfettered by
State or Federal regulation;
‘‘(3) encourage the development of technologies
which maximize user control over the information re-
ceived by individuals, families, and schools who use
the Internet and other interactive computer services;
‘‘(4) remove disincentives for the development
and utilization of blocking and filtering technologies
that empower parents to restrict their children’s ac-
cess to objectionable or inappropriate online mate-
rial; and
‘‘(5) ensure vigorous enforcement of criminal
laws to deter and punish trafficking in obscenity,
stalking, and harassment by means of computer.
‘‘(c) PROTECTION FOR ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ BLOCK-
ING
AND SCREENING
OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.—No
provider or user of interactive computer services shall be
treated as the publisher or speaker of any information pro-
vided by an information content provider. No provider or
user of interactive computer services shall be held liable
on account of—
‘‘(1) any action voluntarily taken in good faith
to restrict access to material that the provider or
user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objection-
able, whether or not such material is constitutionally
protected; or
‘‘(2) any action taken to make available to in-
formation content providers or others the technical
means to restrict access to material described in
paragraph (1).
‘‘(d) FCC REGULATION
OF
THE INTERNET
AND
OTHER
INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICES
PROHIB-
ITED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to grant
any jurisdiction or authority to the Commission with re-
spect to economic or content regulation of the Internet or
other interactive computer services.
‘‘(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—
‘‘(1) NO EFFECT ON CRIMINAL LAW.—Nothing
in this section shall be construed to impair the en-
forcement of section 223 of this Act, chapter 71 (re-
lating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to sexual exploi-
tation of children) of title 18, United States Code,
or any other Federal criminal statute.
‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LAW.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to
limit or expand any law pertaining to intellectual
property.
‘‘(3) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prevent any State from enforc-
ing any State law that is consistent with this sec-
tion.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) INTERNET.—The term ‘Internet’ means
the international computer network of both Federal
and non-Federal interoperable packet switched data
networks.
‘‘(2) INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICE.—The
term ‘interactive computer service’ means any infor-
mation service that provides computer access to mul-
tiple users via modem to a remote computer server,
including specifically a service that provides access
to the Internet.
‘‘(3) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER.—The
term ‘information content provider’ means any per-
son or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part,
for the creation or development of information pro-