47 U.S.C. § 231 : US Code - Section 231: Restriction of access by minors to materials commercially distributed by means of World Wide Web that are harmful to minors

Search 47 U.S.C. § 231 : US Code - Section 231: Restriction of access by minors to materials commercially distributed by means of World Wide Web that are harmful to minors

(a) Requirement to restrict access
(1) Prohibited conduct
Whoever knowingly and with knowledge of the character of the
material, in interstate or foreign commerce by means of the World
Wide Web, makes any communication for commercial purposes that is
available to any minor and that includes any material that is
harmful to minors shall be fined not more than $50,000,
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
(2) Intentional violations
In addition to the penalties under paragraph (1), whoever
intentionally violates such paragraph shall be subject to a fine
of not more than $50,000 for each violation. For purposes of this
paragraph, each day of violation shall constitute a separate
violation.
(3) Civil penalty
In addition to the penalties under paragraphs (1) and (2),
whoever violates paragraph (1) shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation. For purposes
of this paragraph, each day of violation shall constitute a
separate violation.
(b) Inapplicability of carriers and other service providers
For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, a person shall
not be considered to make any communication for commercial purposes
to the extent that such person is -
(1) a telecommunications carrier engaged in the provision of a
telecommunications service;
(2) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet
access service;
(3) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet
information location tool; or
(4) similarly engaged in the transmission, storage, retrieval,
hosting, formatting, or translation (or any combination thereof)
of a communication made by another person, without selection or
alteration of the content of the communication, except that such
person's deletion of a particular communication or material made
by another person in a manner consistent with subsection (c) of
this section or section 230 of this title shall not constitute
such selection or alteration of the content of the communication.
(c) Affirmative defense
(1) Defense
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section
that the defendant, in good faith, has restricted access by
minors to material that is harmful to minors -
(A) by requiring use of a credit card, debit account, adult
access code, or adult personal identification number;
(B) by accepting a digital certificate that verifies age; or
(C) by any other reasonable measures that are feasible under
available technology.
(2) Protection for use of defenses
No cause of action may be brought in any court or
administrative agency against any person on account of any
activity that is not in violation of any law punishable by
criminal or civil penalty, and that the person has taken in good
faith to implement a defense authorized under this subsection or
otherwise to restrict or prevent the transmission of, or access
to, a communication specified in this section.
(d) Privacy protection requirements
(1) Disclosure of information limited
A person making a communication described in subsection (a) of
this section -
(A) shall not disclose any information collected for the
purposes of restricting access to such communications to
individuals 17 years of age or older without the prior written
or electronic consent of -
(i) the individual concerned, if the individual is an
adult; or
(ii) the individual's parent or guardian, if the individual
is under 17 years of age; and
(B) shall take such actions as are necessary to prevent
unauthorized access to such information by a person other than
the person making such communication and the recipient of such
communication.
(2) Exceptions
A person making a communication described in subsection (a) of
this section may disclose such information if the disclosure is -

(A) necessary to make the communication or conduct a
legitimate business activity related to making the
communication; or
(B) made pursuant to a court order authorizing such
disclosure.
(e) Definitions
For purposes of this subsection,(!1) the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) By means of the World Wide Web
The term "by means of the World Wide Web" means by placement of
material in a computer server-based file archive so that it is
publicly accessible, over the Internet, using hypertext transfer
protocol or any successor protocol.
(2) Commercial purposes; engaged in the business
(A) Commercial purposes
A person shall be considered to make a communication for
commercial purposes only if such person is engaged in the
business of making such communications.
(B) Engaged in the business
The term "engaged in the business" means that the person who
makes a communication, or offers to make a communication, by
means of the World Wide Web, that includes any material that is
harmful to minors, devotes time, attention, or labor to such
activities, as a regular course of such person's trade or
business, with the objective of earning a profit as a result of
such activities (although it is not necessary that the person
make a profit or that the making or offering to make such
communications be the person's sole or principal business or
source of income). A person may be considered to be engaged in
the business of making, by means of the World Wide Web,
communications for commercial purposes that include material
that is harmful to minors, only if the person knowingly causes
the material that is harmful to minors to be posted on the
World Wide Web or knowingly solicits such material to be posted
on the World Wide Web.
(3) Internet
The term "Internet" means the combination of computer
facilities and electromagnetic transmission media, and related
equipment and software, comprising the interconnected worldwide
network of computer networks that employ the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to transmit
information.
(4) Internet access service
The term "Internet access service" means a service that enables
users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other
services offered over the Internet, and may also include access
to proprietary content, information, and other services as part
of a package of services offered to consumers. Such term does not
include telecommunications services.
(5) Internet information location tool
The term "Internet information location tool" means a service
that refers or links users to an online location on the World
Wide Web. Such term includes directories, indices, references,
pointers, and hypertext links.
(6) Material that is harmful to minors
The term "material that is harmful to minors" means any
communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article,
recording, writing, or other matter of any kind that is obscene
or that -
(A) the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with
respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to
pander to, the prurient interest;
(B) depicts, describes, or represents, in a manner patently
offensive with respect to minors, an actual or simulated sexual
act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated normal or
perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or
post-pubescent female breast; and
(C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value for minors.
(7) Minor
The term "minor" means any person under 17 years of age.