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Subject: What Government Is Doing
Posted By: Shelley Pasnik
Date: April 02, 2000 at 19:16:14

Whether it is comic books in the 1940s, song lyrics in the 1980s or chat rooms today, policymakers have been willing to take action against media they believe to be harmful to children's well-being. Sexually explicit content and obscenity; violence, inappropriate language, and more recently, hate speech; exploitative marketing and advertising; and personal data collection have all been the target of congressional legislation, federal agency rulemakings and/or industry self-regulation. The Internet certainly has not been immune from attempts to protect minors from what some view as its more unseemly side. Two pieces of legislation – with similar names but very different intent – have been particularly instrumental in giving shape to children's online safety debates. The Children's Online Protection Act is embroiled in First Amendment defenses as it tries to govern online content that is "harmful to minors" whereas the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act governs how commercial Web sites collect information from children under 13.

Beyond these attempts to dictate Web content and business activities, the federal government also has been instrumental in helping to wire schools and libraries to the Internet by providing E-Rate discounts on telecommunications services.

What role(s), if any, should federal and state government play in building infrastructure, providing protections, creating public interest content spaces and shaping e-commerce?

Responses Posted

Re: What Government Is Doing Federal Trade Commission, April 06, 2000 (0)
Re: What Government Is Doing Parry Aftab, April 02, 2000 (1)
- Funding Re: What Government Is Doing Shelley Pasnik, April 03, 2000 (0)

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* Comments: > Whether it is comic books in the 1940s, song lyrics in the 1980s or chat rooms today, policymakers have been willing to take action against media they believe to be harmful to children's well-being. Sexually explicit content and obscenity; violence, inappropriate language, and more recently, hate speech; exploitative marketing and advertising; and personal data collection have all been the target of congressional legislation, federal agency rulemakings and/or industry self-regulation. The Internet certainly has not been immune from attempts to protect minors from what some view as its more unseemly side. Two pieces of legislation – with similar names but very different intent – have been particularly instrumental in giving shape to children's online safety debates. The Children's Online Protection Act is embroiled in First Amendment defenses as it tries to govern online content that is "harmful to minors" whereas the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act governs how commercial Web sites collect information from children under 13. > Beyond these attempts to dictate Web content and business activities, the federal government also has been instrumental in helping to wire schools and libraries to the Internet by providing E-Rate discounts on telecommunications services. > What role(s), if any, should federal and state government play in building infrastructure, providing protections, creating public interest content spaces and shaping e-commerce?