[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3461 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
1st Session
H. R. 3461
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 14, 2007
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish a public awareness campaign regarding Internet safety.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding America's Families by
Enhancing and Reorganizing New and Efficient Technologies Act of
2007''.
SEC. 2. INTERNET SAFETY.
For purposes of this Act, the issue of Internet safety includes
issues regarding use of the Internet in a manner that promotes safe
online activity, including safe transactions involved in online
commerce, and protects against threats to financial information and
privacy, threats from cyber-crime, and threats to juveniles, including
cyber-predators and material that is inappropriate for minors.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.
The Federal Trade Commission shall carry out a nationwide program
to increase public awareness and provide education regarding Internet
safety, for families, businesses, organizations, and other users, that
utilizes existing resources and efforts of the Federal Government,
State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, private
technology and financial companies, Internet service providers, World
Wide Web-based resources, and other appropriate entities, that
includes--
(1) identifying, promoting, and encouraging best practices
for Internet safety;
(2) establishing and carrying out a national outreach and
education campaign regarding Internet safety utilizing various
media and Internet-based resources;
(3) facilitating access to, and the exchange of,
information regarding Internet safety to promote up-to-date
knowledge regarding current issues; and
(4) facilitating access to Internet safety education and
public awareness efforts the Commission considers appropriate
to States, units of local government, schools, police
departments, nonprofit organizations, and such other entities.
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTS.
The Commission shall submit a report to Congress not later than
March 31 of each year that describes the activities carried out under
section 3 by the Commission during the preceding calendar year.
SEC. 5. ONLINE SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information shall establish an Online Safety and
Technology working group comprised of representatives of relevant
sectors of the business community, public interest groups, and other
appropriate groups and Federal agencies to review and evaluate--
(1) the status of industry efforts to promote online safety
through educational efforts, parental control technology,
blocking and filtering software, age-appropriate labels for
content or other technologies or initiatives designed to
promote a safe online environment for children;
(2) the status of industry efforts to promote online safety
among providers of electronic communications services and
remote computing services by reporting apparent child
pornography under section 13032 of title 42, United States
Code;
(3) the practices of electronic communications service
providers and remote computing service providers related to
record retention in connection with crimes against children;
and
(4) the development of technologies to help parents shield
their children from inappropriate material on the Internet.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the working group
established under subsection (a) is first convened, it shall submit a
report to the Assistant Secretary and the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives that--
(1) describes in detail its findings, including any
information related to the effectiveness of such strategies and
technologies and any information about the prevalence within
industry of educational campaigns, parental control
technologies, blocking and filtering software, labeling, or
other technologies to assist parents; and
(2) includes recommendations as to what types of incentives
could be used or developed to increase the effectiveness and
implementation of such strategies and technologies.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Internet.--The term ``Internet'' means collectively the
myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including
equipment and operating software, which comprise the
interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any
predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to
communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
For carrying out the public awareness campaign under section 3,
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission $5,000,000 for
fiscal year 2008, which shall remain available until September 30,
2009.
Passed the House of Representatives November 13, 2007.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.