DOPA:Deleting Online Predators

ActErin Downey Howerton - 2006

History: Previous Legislation

• Communications Act of 1934– Revised in 1996 – “Telecom Act”– Universal Service Fund/“E-Rate”

• Children’s Internet Protection Act– 2000; ALA challenge 2003– Recipients must “block access”

What DOPA says:

• Adds to the CIPA verbiage

– “Protects against access by minors without parental authorization to a commercial social networking website or chat room, and informs parents that sexual predators can use these websites and chat rooms to prey on children.”

“Social Networking” Sites

Chatting

Blogging

Bulletin Board Groups

In-game chatting? Player profiles? Not anymore.

Amazon.com… oops! Forums!

Adults will need their computers unblocked… one by one by one…

Post-DOPA world:

– After passage, the FCC would be required to then take the time to define the terms used in the bill.• “social networking website” • “chat room”

– Schools can unblock sites for educational purposes with adult supervision. Libraries do not have this option in the bill as currently written.

Passed the House, 410-15

“The unfortunate thing about this legislation is that, rather than dealing with the real problem, which is kids and young people who are making these communications with sexual predators from their own home or their own den or from their own basement or from their own room, it deals with schools and libraries. Now, that is very fine if we had some record which would show that this is a real problem or that there is not a better cure somewhere else [. . .]”

– John Dingell, (D-MI) July 26 (voted yes)

http://www.house.gov/commerce_democrats/Press_109/109st126.shtml

Research Findings

• Center on 11-18 y/o use; starts around 13

• Definition of “sexual solicitation”

• 45% were made by youth under 18 and 30% made by adults between 18-25.

• “High rates of rude sexual comments have been documented among peers in middle and high schools (AAUW study)”

• Increase in incidents involving people known to teens offline, IRL

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Online Victimization of Youth – studies in 2000 & 2006

Implications

• Will further widen the gap between technology “haves” and “have nots”

• Will block legitimate activities, speech, and uses of the Internet

• Further exacerbate the disconnect students see between libraries/schools and “real life.”

Now what?

Legislate?

Educate?

Turn down the E-rate?