S 1965 ES

S. 1965

AN ACT

To protect children from cybercrimes, including crimes by online predators, to enhance efforts to identify and eliminate child pornography, and to help parents shield their children from material that is inappropriate for minors.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act'.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I--PROMOTING A SAFE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN

Sec. 101. Internet safety.

Sec. 102. Public awareness campaign.

Sec. 103. Annual reports.

Sec. 104. Online safety and technology working group.

Sec. 105. Promoting online safety in schools.

Sec. 106. Definitions.

TITLE II--ENHANCING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 201. Child pornography prevention; forfeitures related to child pornography violations.

TITLE I--PROMOTING A SAFE INTERNET FOR CHILDREN

SEC. 101. INTERNET SAFETY.

For the purposes of this title, the issue of Internet safety includes issues regarding the use of the Internet in a manner that promotes safe online activity for children, protects children from cybercrimes, including crimes by online predators, and helps parents shield their children from material that is inappropriate for minors.

SEC. 102. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

The Federal Trade Commission shall carry out a nationwide program to increase public awareness and provide education regarding strategies to promote the safe use of the Internet by children. The program shall utilize existing resources and efforts of the Federal Government, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, private technology and financial companies, Internet service providers, World Wide Web-based resources, and other appropriate entities, that includes--

(1) identifying, promoting, and encouraging best practices for Internet safety;

(2) establishing and carrying out a national outreach and education campaign regarding Internet safety utilizing various media and Internet-based resources;

(3) facilitating access to, and the exchange of, information regarding Internet safety to promote up-to-date knowledge regarding current issues; and

(4) facilitating access to Internet safety education and public awareness efforts the Commission considers appropriate by States, units of local government, schools, police departments, nonprofit organizations, and other appropriate entities.

SEC. 103. ANNUAL REPORTS.

The Commission shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation not later than March 31 of each year that describes the activities carried out under section 102 by the Commission during the preceding calendar year.

SEC. 104. ONLINE SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT- Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information shall establish an Online Safety and Technology working group comprised of representatives of relevant sectors of the business community, public interest groups, and other appropriate groups and Federal agencies to review and evaluate--

(1) the status of industry efforts to promote online safety through educational efforts, parental control technology, blocking and filtering software, age-appropriate labels for content or other technologies or initiatives designed to promote a safe online environment for children;

(2) the status of industry efforts to promote online safety among providers of electronic communications services and remote computing services by reporting apparent child pornography under section 13032 of title 42, United States Code, including amendments made by this Act with respect to the content of such reports and any obstacles to such reporting;

(3) the practices of electronic communications service providers and remote computing service providers related to record retention in connection with crimes against children; and

(4) the development of technologies to help parents shield their children from inappropriate material on the Internet.

(b) REPORT- Within 1 year after the working group is first convened, it shall submit a report to the Assistant Secretary and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that--

(1) describes in detail its findings, including any information related to the effectiveness of such strategies and technologies and any information about the prevalence within industry of educational campaigns, parental control technologies, blocking and filtering software, labeling, or other technologies to assist parents; and

(2) includes recommendations as to what types of incentives could be used or developed to increase the effectiveness and implementation of such strategies and technologies.

(c) FACA NOT TO APPLY TO WORKING GROUP- The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the working group.

SEC. 105. PROMOTING ONLINE SAFETY IN SCHOOLS.

Section 254(h)(5)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(5)(b)) is amended--

(1) by striking `and' after the semicolon in clause (i);

(2) by striking `minors.' in clause (ii) and inserting `minors; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

`(iii) as part of its Internet safety policy is educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response.'.

SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.

In this title:

(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the Federal Trade Commission.

(2) INTERNET- The term `Internet' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.

TITLE II--ENHANCING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ENFORCEMENT

SEC. 201. CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PREVENTION; FORFEITURES RELATED TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VIOLATIONS.

(a) In General- Section 503(b)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)(1)) is amended--

(1) by striking `or' after the semicolon in subparagraph (C);

(2) by striking `or 1464' in subparagraph (D) and inserting `1464, or 2252';

(3) by inserting `or' after the semicolon in subparagraph (D); and

(4) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:

`(E) violated any provision of section 227 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13032);'.

Passed the Senate May 22, 2008.

Attest:

Secretary.