Administration, computer industry pledge anti-smut effort

Agreement counters calls for Internet smut laws

July 16, 1997
Web posted at: 8:01 p.m. EDT (0001 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Clinton Administration and the computer industry have agreed on a plan to police smut on the Internet without new laws or extensive government intervention.

President Clinton said a White House meeting Wednesday yielded a consensus on "how to pave the way to a family-friendly Internet without paving over the constitutional guarantees to free speech and free expression."

Clinton and Vice President Al Gore hosted a gathering of parents groups, lawmakers and industry officials after the Supreme Court struck down a law designed to protect children from cyberspace's seedy side. The Court ruled that the 1996 Communications Decency Act improperly restricted the free-speech rights of adults.

The group agreed on a three-sided approach that includes:

• Software filters that will allow parents to screen what their children see.
• Increased government enforcement of existing anti-obscenity laws.
• Encouraging parents to get more involved in their children's Internet activities.

Industry says software already exists

The White House had said before the meeting that it wanted a solution "as powerful for the computer as the V-chip will be for the television that protects children in ways that are consistent with America's free-speech values." New television sets are expected to have a computer chip next year that would allow parents to block unwanted programs.

"We simply must not allow pornographers and pedophiles to exploit this wonderful new medium to abuse our children," Clinton said Wednesday.

"We agreed that the Internet has astonishing power, that it is truly revolutionizing how and how much our children learn," Gore said after the meeting. "But we also agreed that in addition to its great educational value, it has a lot of material that just isn't fit for children."

Hoping to avoid a V-chip for the Internet, computer industry representatives said that anti-smut software already exists and that they would make an effort to provide greater access to it. They also indicated that they would flag Internet sites that are safe for children.

"We have tools out there which are 100 percent available," said Jerry Berman of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a group that works to protect computer users' civil liberties. He added that the tools need to be more widely promoted and used.

Software no substitute for 'good parenting'

"We are today -- right now -- delivering tools that empower families, neighbors and educators to limit and filter what can be seen by, and sent to, our children," said Steve Case, president of America Online.

But he also said that software alone will not be enough to keep kids out of inappropriate areas on the Internet.

"These tools aren't a replacement for good parenting," he said "but rather a supplement for it."

The administration's willingness to allow the industry to police itself is welcome news to the industry and electronic civil liberties groups, which fought to overturn anti-smut provisions in the 1996 telecommunications law.

There are some in Congress, and elsewhere, who don't think the industry is doing enough and believe legislation is the best remedy. Out of millions of web sites, for example, only about 35,000 are rated.

"The message is there's technology out there now that works. It's a much better alternative to legislation that won't," said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a media watchdog group in Washington.

During the meeting Gore demonstrated the use of filtering software which reads labels or ratings on web sites and blocks access to those deemed inappropriate. He also recommended a web site for parents sponsored by the Center for Democracy and Technology .

Netscape to add filter feature

Clinton also announced that Netscape Communications, the maker of a popular software for browsing the Internet, would add a rating and filtering feature known as PICS to its next version.

Microsoft's Explorer browser already uses PICS, which can work with more than one labeling or ratings system. Parents using a browser with the PICS technology could, for example, call up Web sites designated to be "family friendly" and block sites that are violent or obscene.

Clinton also announced that several Internet directories, including Yahoo!, Excite and Lycos, said they would list only web sites that carry ratings.

Among those attending the meeting were representatives from America Online, Netscape Communications Corp., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! Inc., the National Parent Teacher Association and the American Library Association, plus makers of screening technology and electronic civil liberties groups.

Lois Jean White, president of the National Parent Teacher Association, said her group would support the new policy for now. But if it fails, she said, her organization would "reluctantly" turn to such things as new legislation.

The computer industry is expected to hold a summit on the issue this fall.

Correspondent Eileen O'Connor and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

• Computer industry anti-smut effort
• Consumer News: Parenting

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CNN Interactive's extended coverage

• Communications Decency Act

Related stories:

• Computer industry pledges anti-smut effort - July 16, 1997
• Reaction mixed to court's Internet ruling - June 26, 1997
• Supreme Court strikes down Internet smut law - June 26, 1997
• FBI: Internet pedophiles a growing threat - April 8, 1997
• FBI cracks down on child pornography on the Internet - April 7, 1997

Related sites:

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• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• The Center for Democracy and Technology - a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, DC. whose mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and democratic values in new computer and communications technologies
• The White House
• American Library Association - the oldest and largest national library association in the world
  • American Library Association launches parent education campaign about the Internet
• Enough is Enough - organization working to protect children and families from the dangers of illegal Pornography and On-Line Predators.
  • Press Release: Enough Is Enough Calls On ALA For Responsible Library Policies
• CyberAngels - dedicated to educating Internet users about problems of safety and security online
• Electronic Privacy Information Center- established to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues relating to the National Information Infrastructure
  • Post-CDA: The "Filtering" Debate Begins
• Computer Pornography Questions and Answers - from the Family Research Council

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