Congressman Says Filter Mandate
Will Breathe New Life into Anti-Smut Law
Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) introduced the Child Protection Act of 1999 on July 20. HR2560 requires federally funded computers in public and school libraries to filter obscenity and child pornography. However, a filter’s operation could be “interrupted” under adult supervision when a child’s research necessitates linking to a blocked site.
In a July 20 “Dear Colleague” letter, Istook cited a February injunction halting enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act as the reason for introducing the legislation, though libraries aren’t within the scope of COPA, which bars minors’ visits to online commercial porn sites. “If we cannot protect our children from the obscenity on websites, the only solution is to protect them when they use the Internet,” the letter said.
Four days before its introduction, radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger posted an online alert urging support of the bill. Passage, she said, would be a “huge victory for those of us who have been combating the American Library Association’s pornography filtering stance—or lack thereof.”
Posted July 26, 1999.
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