The Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 1619, the Internet School Filtering Act, on March 12, but agreed that the bill will be modified based upon proposals from Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mt.) and Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) before it goes to the Senate floor.
The bill, introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) February 9, would require libraries and schools to certify they have installed Internet filtering or blocking software in order to receive universal service funds. Sen. Burns's alternate proposal, supported by library and education groups, would simply require libraries and schools to certify that they have appropriate Internet use policies in order to obtain the discounts.
That same day the committee also approved S. 1482--known as "Son of CDA"—which prohibits commercial distribution on the World Wide Web of material that is "harmful to minors."
Posted March 16, 1998.