47 U.S.C. § 941 : US Code - Section 941: Child-friendly second-level Internet domain

Search 47 U.S.C. § 941 : US Code - Section 941: Child-friendly second-level Internet domain

(a) Responsibilities
The NTIA shall require the registry selected to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet domain to
establish, operate, and maintain a second-level domain within the
United States country code domain that provides access only to
material that is suitable for minors and not harmful to minors (in
this section referred to as the "new domain").
(b) Conditions of contracts
(1) Initial registry
The NTIA shall not exercise any option periods under any
contract between the NTIA and the initial registry to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet domain unless
the initial registry agrees, during the 90-day period beginning
upon December 4, 2002, to carry out, and to operate the new
domain in accordance with, the requirements under subsection (c)
of this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
prevent the initial registry of the United States country code
Internet domain from participating in the NTIA's process for
selecting a successor registry or to prevent the NTIA from
awarding, to the initial registry, the contract to be successor
registry subject to the requirements of paragraph (2).
(2) Successor registries
The NTIA shall not enter into any contract for operating and
maintaining the United States country code Internet domain with
any successor registry unless such registry enters into an
agreement with the NTIA, during the 90-day period after selection
of such registry, that provides for the registry to carry out,
and the new domain to operate in accordance with, the
requirements under subsection (c) of this section.
(c) Requirements of new domain
The registry and new domain shall be subject to the following
requirements:
(1) Written content standards for the new domain, except that
the NTIA shall not have any authority to establish such
standards.
(2) Written agreements with each registrar for the new domain
that require that use of the new domain is in accordance with the
standards and requirements of the registry.
(3) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
use the new domain in accordance with the standards and
requirements of the registry.
(4) Rules and procedures for enforcement and oversight that
minimize the possibility that the new domain provides access to
content that is not in accordance with the standards and
requirements of the registry.
(5) A process for removing from the new domain any content that
is not in accordance with the standards and requirements of the
registry.
(6) A process to provide registrants to the new domain with an
opportunity for a prompt, expeditious, and impartial dispute
resolution process regarding any material of the registrant
excluded from the new domain.
(7) Continuous and uninterrupted service for the new domain
during any transition to a new registry selected to operate and
maintain new domain or the United States country code domain.
(8) Procedures and mechanisms to promote the accuracy of
contact information submitted by registrants and retained by
registrars in the new domain.
(9) Operationality of the new domain not later than one year
after December 4, 2002.
(10) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
prohibit two-way and multiuser interactive services in the new
domain, unless the registrant certifies to the registrar that
such service will be offered in compliance with the content
standards established pursuant to paragraph (1) and is designed
to reduce the risk of exploitation of minors using such two-way
and multiuser interactive services.
(11) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require
registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to
prohibit hyperlinks in the new domain that take new domain users
outside of the new domain.
(12) Any other action that the NTIA considers necessary to
establish, operate, or maintain the new domain in accordance with
the purposes of this section.
(d) Option periods for initial registry
The NTIA shall grant the initial registry the option periods
available under the contract between the NTIA and the initial
registry to operate and maintain the United States country code
Internet domain if, and may not grant such option periods unless,
the NTIA finds that the initial registry has satisfactorily
performed its obligations under this Act and under the contract.
Nothing in this section shall preempt or alter the NTIA's authority
to terminate such contract for the operation of the United States
country code Internet domain for cause or for convenience.
(e) Treatment of registry and other entities
(1) In general
Only to the extent that such entities carry out functions under
this section, the following entities are deemed to be interactive
computer services for purposes of section 230(c) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)):
(A) The registry that operates and maintains the new domain.
(B) Any entity that contracts with such registry to carry out
functions to ensure that content accessed through the new
domain complies with the limitations applicable to the new
domain.
(C) Any registrar for the registry of the new domain that is
operating in compliance with its agreement with the registry.
(2) Savings provision
Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to affect the
applicability of any other provision of title II of the
Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.] to the
entities covered by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph
(1).
(f) Education
The NTIA shall carry out a program to publicize the availability
of the new domain and to educate the parents of minors regarding
the process for utilizing the new domain in combination and
coordination with hardware and software technologies that provide
for filtering or blocking. The program under this subsection shall
be commenced not later than 30 days after the date that the new
domain first becomes operational and accessible by the public.
(g) Coordination with Federal Government
The registry selected to operate and maintain the new domain
shall -
(1) consult with appropriate agencies of the Federal Government
regarding procedures and actions to prevent minors and families
who use the new domain from being targeted by adults and other
children for predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal
actions; and
(2) based upon the consultations conducted pursuant to
paragraph (1), establish such procedures and take such actions as
the registry may deem necessary to prevent such targeting.
The consultations, procedures, and actions required under this
subsection shall be commenced not later than 30 days after the date
that the new domain first becomes operational and accessible by the
public.
(h) Compliance report
The registry shall prepare, on an annual basis, a report on the
registry's monitoring and enforcement procedures for the new
domain. The registry shall submit each such report, setting forth
the results of the review of its monitoring and enforcement
procedures for the new domain, to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(i) Suspension of new domain
If the NTIA finds, pursuant to its own review or upon a good
faith petition by the registry, that the new domain is not serving
its intended purpose, the NTIA shall instruct the registry to
suspend operation of the new domain until such time as the NTIA
determines that the new domain can be operated as intended.
(j) Definitions
For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) Harmful to minors
The term "harmful to minors" means, with respect to material,
that -
(A) the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with
respect to minors, that it is designed to appeal to, or is
designed to pander to, the prurient interest;
(B) the material 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, the material lacks serious, literary,
artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
(2) Minor
The term "minor" means any person under 13 years of age.
(3) Registry
The term "registry" means the registry selected to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet domain.
(4) Successor registry
The term "successor registry" means any entity that enters into
a contract with the NTIA to operate and maintain the United
States country code Internet domain that covers any period after
the termination or expiration of the contract to operate and
maintain the United States country code Internet domain, and any
option periods under such contract, that was signed on October
26, 2001.
(5) Suitable for minors
The term "suitable for minors" means, with respect to material,
that it -
(A) is not psychologically or intellectually inappropriate
for minors; and
(B) serves -
(i) the educational, informational, intellectual, or
cognitive needs of minors; or
(ii) the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of
minors.