November 23, 2008
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House

H.R. 2246, Media Marketing Accountability Act
Sponsor: Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y.
Introduced: June 20, 2001
Committee: Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2246 would make it illegal for companies that voluntarily rate their entertainment products to target their marketing of adult-rated media, including computer and online games, to children. The bill would classify such marketing as a "deceptive act" that could be prosecuted by the FTC.
H.R. 2417, Dot-Kids Domain-Name Act
Sponsor: Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Introduced: June 28, 2000
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2417 seeks to create an online safe haven for children. The bill would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to develop a plan for a new .kids domain name. People who register .kids domains would have to post material that is "suitable for minors" younger than 17, and an independent board would have to create written criteria for what is suitable. The measure would require the board to consult family organizations and Internet watchdog groups on the guidelines and would exempt the board from liability for any decisions to remove "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable material" from Web sites ending in .kids. The legislation would prevent ICANN and the Commerce Department, which oversees ICANN, from approving any other domain-name suffixes to complement the likes of .com, .net and .org until they approve the new .kids domain.
H.R. 2472, Protect Children From E-Mail Smut Act
Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
Introduced: July 11, 2001
Committee: House Science, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary
Description: H.R. 2472 would require sexually explicit e-mail advertisements to include an electronic mark that could be filtered by e-mail software. The measure is designed to protect children from having to see such advertisements by replicating current postal rules that mandate warning labels on physical mail. Under the bill, the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology would design the exact electronic mark.
H.R. 2817, Cyber-Molesters Enforcement Act
Sponsor: Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn.
Introduced: Aug. 2, 2001
Committees: House Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure
Description: H.R. 2817 seeks to close loopholes in criminal law that allow online sexual predators to escape without punishment. The bill would require a five-year mandatory-minimum sentence for people who use the Internet to meet children and commit illegal sexual acts. It also would allow police to obtain a federal wiretap for people suspected of transmitting computer-generated pornography, enticing a minor to travel for sexual activity or transporting a minor for sexual activity. Finally, the measure would classify child porn as "contraband" and thus allow police to destroy it. A Senate companion bill, S. 1232, and other similar bills, S. 1234 and H.R. 2601, were introduced.
H.R. 3129, Customs Border Security Act
Sponsor: Rep. Philip Crane, R-Ill.
Introduced: Oct. 16, 2001
Committee: House Ways and Means
Description: H.R. 3129 would mandate an electronic system to allow federal officials to crosscheck commercial passenger lists against databases of information on terrorists and other criminals. The bill, which would reauthorize the Customs Service, would require that "manifests" be filed for all cargo and passengers entering the United States by air, land or water-based commercial carrier. Currently, providing such information is voluntary. The measure also would authorize $10 million for Customs' cyber-smuggling center, which is a key agency in the effort to protect children from online sexual predators.
H.R. 4623, Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas
Introduced: April 30, 2002
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 4623 would ban computer-generated images of child pornography. The measure was introduced in response to an April 16, 2002, Supreme Court ruling that the previous ban on "virtual" child pornography was unconstitutional. The bill would bar "a computer image or computer-generated image that is, or appears virtually indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct." That language differs only slightly from the overturned phrasing. The law had barred any visual depiction that "is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct." The new legislation also would distinguish between pre-pubescent and post-pubescent children. It would bar the sale or distribution of both virtual and actual child pornography involving the former, and porn of post-pubescent minors still would be barred so long as prosecutors could prove that images are of identifiable children. The House passed the bill on a 413-8 vote June 25, 2002.
H.R. 4779, Customs Border Security Act
Sponsor: Rep. Philip Crane, R-Ill.
Introduced: May 21, 2002
Committee: House Ways and Means
Description: H.R. 4779 would authorize programs at the Customs Service, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and International Trade Commission programs from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2004. Technology-related authorizations for Customs would include money for: the Automated Commercial Environment computer system that tracks all commercial imports; targeting software to read license plates; and the Child Cyber-Smuggling Center that aims to prevent child pornography and sexual exploitation of children. The bill also would require the operators of cargo vessels to provide electronic manifests of the goods they are carrying before they could enter the United States.
H. Con Res. 441, Untitled
Sponsor: Robert Andrews, D-N.J.
Introduced: July 15, 2002
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H. Con Res. 441 would express Congress' view that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires public libraries to use software to filter Internet pornography, is constitutional. A federal court ruled the law unconstitutional in May 2002 because filters block too much protected speech while also failing to block all unconstitutional speech.
H. Con. Res. 445, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas
Introduced: July 23, 2002
Committee: House Judiciary, Energy and Commerce
Description: H. Con Res. 445 would express Congress' opinion that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced to protect public safety, quality of life, the social order and family life. The non-binding resolution focuses on the use of computers to transmit objectionable or pornographic material to children, among other things.
H.J. Res. 106, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C.
Introduced: July 17, 2002
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.J. Res. 106 would propose an amendment to the Constitution to bar child pornography, whether it depicts images of actual or "virtual" children. The proposal follows an April 2002 Supreme Court decision, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, striking down a key provision of the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act. A related House-passed bill, H.R. 4623, attempts to bypass the decision with a revised ban on computer-generated porn images.

Senate

S. 124, Children's Protection Act of 2001
Sponsor: Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Introduced: Jan. 22, 2001
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 124 would exempt from antitrust law any agreements related to voluntary guidelines for Internet content, telecasts, movies, videogames, and music lyrics. The legislation would allow the entertainment industry to collaborate to address growing concerns about the effects of media violence on children, and to develop voluntary programming guidelines.
S. 1232, Cyber-Molesters Enforcement Act
Sponsor: Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Introduced: July 24, 2001
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 1232 seeks to close loopholes in criminal law that allow online sexual predators to escape without punishment. The bill would require a five-year mandatory-minimum sentence for people who use the Internet to meet children and commit illegal sexual acts. It also would allow police to obtain a federal wiretap for people suspected of transmitting computer-generated pornography, enticing a minor to travel for sexual activity or transporting a minor for sexual activity. Finally, the measure would classify child porn as "contraband" and thus allow police to destroy it. A House companion bill, H.R. 2817, and similar bills, S. 1234 and H.R. 2601, were introduced.
S. 1234, Anti-Sexual Predator Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Introduced: July 25, 2001
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 1234 would allow police to obtain a federal wiretap for people suspected of transmitting computer-generated pornography, enticing a minor to travel for sexual activity or transporting a minor for sexual activity. Similar bills, S. 1232, H.R. 2601 and H.R. 2817, were introduced.
S. 2137, Family Privacy and Security Act
Sponsor: Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
Introduced: April 16, 2002
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 2137 would make it a federal crime to videotape someone engaged in sexual activity without the person's consent. Violators would face three years in jail if the victim were an adult and 10 if it were a minor. The bill also would create an Internet domain name for material that might be harmful to minors and require site operators to use that domain name. Finally, it would require e-mails to minors that include sexual content to be labeled as such.
S. 2511, Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act
Sponsor: Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo.
Introduced: May 14, 2002
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. 2511 aims to ban "virtual" child pornography. Introduced in response to an April 16, 2002, Supreme Court ruling that overturned a previous law on the subject, the bill would prohibit the creation of computer-generated images that are "virtually indistinguishable from an image of" a minor engaging in sexual conduct. Showing a minor child pornography or obscene material also would be illegal. The Justice Department would have to create a computer database that would link child pornography to actual children from whom it may have been produced and the creator of the pornography. The House passed its companion bill, H.R. 4623, on June 25, 2002.
S. 2537, Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act
Sponsor: Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
Introduced: May 21, 2002
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 2537 would create a second-level Internet domain for material aimed at promoting safe Web surfing for children and families. Sites allowed to occupy space under the new .kids.us domain-name suffix would have to contain content appropriate for children younger than 13. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration would ask an independent review board to determine the material that could be used on .kids.us sites. The House passed its companion bill, H.R. 3833, on May 21, 2002.
S. Res. 338, Untitled
Sponsor: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Introduced: Oct. 10, 2002
Committee: Senate Judiciary
Description: S. Res. 338 would designate the month of October 2002 as "Children's Internet Safety Month." The Senate adopted the measure by voice vote Oct. 17, 2002.

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