Letter from Larry Irving to William Kennard.
Re: NTIA urges FCC to mandate filtering by e-rate recipients.
Date: April 7, 1999.
Source: NTIA. This document has been edited for HTML, but not for content.

The Honorable William E. Kennard
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Room 8-B115
Washington, D.C. 20554

Re: Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96-45

Dear Chairman Kennard,

On behalf of the Clinton Administration, I would like to commend the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) and the Schools & Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company on completing the first funding cycle of the E-rate program. As a result, some 25,785 schools, school districts, and libraries will receive $1.66 billion to help pay for internal wiring and discounted connections the Internet.

The E-rate program and other educational technology initiatives are transforming our nation's classrooms and libraries. Today, 51 percent of public school classrooms are connected to the Internet, up from 27 percent in 1997 and 3 percent in 1994.¹

As increasing numbers of children have access to the Internet from their schools and neighborhood libraries, we need to address the issue of how best to ensure that these children have positive, age-appropriate, educational online experiences.

With respect to the issue of children's access to online material that their parents and teachers deem to be inappropriate for them, the Administration has advocated a user empowerment approach. We believe that empowering parents, teachers, and librarians with a wide range of tools with which they can protect children in their community in a manner consistent with their values is ultimately the most effective approach and one that is most compatible with the First Amendment.

The Administration cares deeply about keeping children safe while they engage in online learning and discovery. Many parents, teachers, and librarians share our concerns.

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Currently, schools and libraries are using a wide range of technology tools and monitoring techniques to ensure that children do not encounter inappropriate material and dangerous situations while online. These schools and libraries are determining what will work best in their particular school and community, Absent proof that local decision making is not working to protect our children, the Federal Government should not mandate a particular type of technology, such as filtering or blocking software. Rather, we should encourage "acceptable use" policies by all public institutions that offer access to online resources, including the Internet. An acceptable use policy should, while being sensitive to local needs and concerns, offer reasonable assurances to parents that safeguards will be in place in the school and library setting that permit users to be empowered to have educational experiences consistent with their values.

The Commission can help promote this policy by adopting a requirement that all schools and libraries that receive Federal E-rate funds certify that they will implement acceptable use policies before such funds are awarded to them. In the second cycle of funding, schools and libraries have filed nearly 36,500 initial applications for E-rate funds. Ensuring that these schools and libraries have acceptable use policies in place would be an important improvement in the program and provide a critical protection for our children.

Thank you for giving consideration to this proposal.

Sincerely,

 

Larry Irving

NTIA Press Release.
Re: NTIA urges FCC to mandate filtering by e-rate recipients.
Date: April 8, 1999.
Source: NTIA. This document has been edited for HTML, but not for content. Hypertext links were added by Tech Law Journal.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 8, 1999
Contact: Mary Hanley
(202) 482-7002

COMMERCE URGES FCC TO REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO
ADOPT USER POLICY TO SAFEGUARD CHILDREN USING THE INTERNET

The Commerce Department urged the Federal Communications Commission to require public schools and libraries applying for federal funds to secure discounted connections to the Internet to certify that they have instituted policies that provide parents with reasonable assurances that children using the Internet will be safeguarded from exposure to inappropriate content.

In a letter to the FCC, Larry Irving, assistant commerce secretary of Telecommunications and Information said: "The administration cares deeply about keeping children safe while they engage in online learning and discovery."

Irving said that the federal government should not require that schools and libraries adopt any particular type of technology such as filtering or blocking, but rather adopt "user policies" that offer parents reasonable assurances that safeguards will be in place that permit them to have educational experiences consistent with their values when using the Internet.

The FCC can help the schools promote the policy by requiring the institutions receiving federal E-rate funds to certify to the user policy before such funds are awarded to them. E-rate funds, a provision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provide reduced rates for telecommunications services, Internet access and internal connections for elementary and secondary schools and public libraries.

Schools and libraries have received $1.66 billion for internal wiring and discounted connections and nearly 36,500 more have filed applications for the E-rate funds. In his letter, Assistant Secretary Irving notes that ensuring that these schools and libraries implement acceptable use policies would be an important improvement in the program and provide a critical protection for children using online resources.

"As increasing numbers of children have access to the Internet from their schools and neighborhood libraries, we need to address the issue of how best to ensure that these children have positive, age-appropriate, educational online experiences," said Assistant Secretary Irving.

Currently, schools and libraries are using a wide range of technology tools and monitoring techniques to ensure that children do not encounter inappropriate material and dangerous situations while online. These schools and libraries are determining what will work best in their particular school and community. In his letter, Irving underscores the Administration's position that, absent proof that local decision making is not working to protect our children, the Federal Government should not mandate a particular type of technology, such as filtering or blocking software.

Rather, Irving said, "the Federal government should encourage acceptable use policies by all public institutions that offer access to online resources, including the Internet. An acceptable use policy should, while being sensitive to local needs and concerns, offer reasonable assurances to parents that safeguards will be in place in the school and library setting that permit users to be empowered to have educational experiences consistent with their values."

"The Clinton Administration has long advocated a user-empowerment approach to the issue of children's access to online material, which was carefully articulated in the Administration's 1997 A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce," said Irving.