Schools

Similar issues are being debated in the school setting, with the additional consideration that it is simply not possible (or desirable) for parents to accompany their children through the school day. The shared responsibility is, therefore, even more compelling, especially given the Supreme Court's statement of the fundamental right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children.

The National Education Association Center for Education Technology recommends that all schools develop "acceptable use" policies. Many parents believe that such policies should require adult supervision of students during online sessions, prohibit intentional viewing of inappropriate material (which should be defined in the policy) and employ appropriate measures to protect children from such material.

Many school libraries follow the American Library Association's recommendation to provide unfiltered access regardless of age, while other schools are adopting filtering or closed systems such as Edview. As with public libraries, such policies should be proactively communicated to parents, so that parents have the opportunity to evaluate them and so that schools can respect the right of parents to play a role in their children's use of the Internet while at school.

D - Law Enforcement

Misunderstandings about the Communication Decency Act (CDA) have left many confused about whether there are any laws which regulate pornography on the Internet. The short answer is that while there are laws which prohibit certain pornography on the Internet, there are insufficient resources being applied to enforce the laws online. There are also certain gaps in the law which need to be understood.

Existing laws applying to pornography on the Internet

• Federal laws prohibiting the distribution of obscenity also apply to Internet transmission of such material. These laws prohibit the distribution of such material to adults and children alike. The definition of "obscenity," often referred to as "hard-core pornography," comes from the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Miller v. California (and other cases). Something is obscene, if a "trier of fact" (judge or jury) finds that "the average person, applying adult community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to a prurient interest in sex, depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." Since the test relies on community standards, what is considered obscene in a small town in Kansas, may not be considered obscene in New York. Much of the hardcore pornography online, however, would be considered obscene in any community.
• Federal laws prohibiting the distribution of child pornography also apply to Internet transmission of such material. These laws prohibit the distribution of such materials to adults and children alike. "Child pornography" is a visual depiction of an actual child under the age of 18 years engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, including a lewd or lascivious exhibition of the genitals. Unlike the test for obscenity, there is no community standard test for child pornography. In a landmark 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case, New York v. Ferber, Justice Byron White wrote, "the use of children as subjects of pornographic material is harmful to the physiological, emotional, and mental health of the child. That judgment easily passes muster under the First Amendment." The Court held that child pornography was not protected speech, it is child abuse.
• Until 1996, actual children had to be depicted for federal child pornography laws to apply. Computer technology created the possibility for composite photos or "morphed" images of children which would not be covered by the law. The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 amended the federal child pornography law to include computer-generated and other simulated pictures of children, even if actual children are not used. That law is currently being challenged in court, but has survived initial challenge.
  
  In 1996, the CDA was passed creating several new causes of action relating to children and the Internet. While the most controversial (the transmission of "indecent" information to children) was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997, many other causes of action were not challenged and remain in effect. These include a child stalking law which prohibits the use of a means of interstate commerce, such as the Internet, to entice or attempt to entice a minor to engage in a criminal sex act. In addition, the CDA's provision criminalizing the online transmission of obscene material with intent to harass survived and remains in effect. Thirteen states also have laws addressing Internet child stalking and other states are in the process of enacting legislation.

Gaps in the existing law

Unfortunately, adults are currently free to distribute non-obscene adult sexual content to children online without legal recourse. This creates the following irony: publishers and distributors of pornographic magazines or videos are legally forbidden from selling, renting, or displaying them to children in a bookstore or video store; but the same publishers and distributors are legally free to sell or display those same magazines and videos to children online.

E - International Community

Because the Internet is a global community, efforts to guide and protect children online require the same international cooperation and involvement as has been shown to deal with issues such as encryption, copyright and hacking. The U.S. is not alone in its concern for children's online safety:

• The European Union is continuing to work with governments, industry and child advocacy groups to seek ways to protect children. It has indicated that it will suggest guidelines for ISPs and OSPs to develop codes of conduct to protect children from harmful material. This approach has been welcomed by the European Internet Service Providers Association (Euro-ISPA). The Australian Broadcasting Authority has done a study for UNESCO concerning online safety in the far east.
• Other countries have tackled the issue of child pornography by developing "hotlines." Net users can report child pornography they encounter online to the hotline, which will then pass on the report both to law enforcement and to the relevant access provider.

Illegal material on a website may come from anywhere in the world, so enforcing laws against child pornography and obscenity requires cooperation among law enforcement agencies worldwide.