TITLE V -- BROADCAST OBSCENITY AND VIOLENCE

Subtitle A   Obscene, Harassing, and Wrongful Utilization of 
             Telecommunications Facilities

SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the "Communications Decency Act of 1995".

SEC. 502. OBSCENE OR HARASSING USE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
          FACILITIES UNDER THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.     

  Section 223 (47 U.S.C. 223) is amended -
     
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof:

"(a) Whoever --

"(1) in interstate or foreign communications -
     "(A) by means of a telecommunications device knowingly - 
        "(i) makes, creates, or solicits, and
        "(ii) initiates the transmission of, any comment, request, 
 suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is obscene, 
 lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent, with intent to annoy, abuse, 
 threaten, or harass an other person; 
    
     "(B) by means of a telecommunications device knowingly -          
 
        "(i)  makes, creates, or solicits, and
        "(ii) initiates the transmission of, any comment, request, 
 suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is obscene 
 or indecent knowing that the recipient of the communication is under 
 18 years of age regard less of whether the maker of such communication 
 placed the call or initiated the communication;     

     "(C) makes a telephone call or utilizes a telecommunications 
 device, whether or not conversation or communication ensues, without 
 disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or 
 harass any person at the called number or who receives the 
 communication; 

     "(D) makes or causes the telephone of another repeatedly or 
 continuously to ring, with intent to harass a person at the called 
 number; or     

     "(E) makes repeated telephone calls or repeatedly initiates 
 communication with a telecommunications device, during which 
 conversation or communication ensues, solely to harass any person at 
 the called number or who receives the communication;    

 "(2) knowingly permits a telecommunications facility under his control 
      to be used for any activity prohibited by paragraph (1) with the 
      intent that it be used for such activity,

shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not 
more than two years, or both."; and      

(2) by adding at the end the following new sub sections:  

"(d) Whoever --

 "(1) in interstate or foreign communications knowingly -     
 
     "(A) uses an interactive computer service to send to a specific 
 person or persons under 18 years of age, or     

     "(B) uses any interactive computer service to display in a manner 
 available to a person under 18 years of age, 

 any comment, request suggestion, proposal, image, or other  
 communication that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently 
 offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or
 excretory activities or organs, regardless of whether the user of such  
 service placed the call or initiated the communication; or     

  "(2) knowingly permits any telecommunications facility under such  
       person's control to be used for an activity prohibited by 
       paragraph (1) with the intent that it be used for such activity, 

shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not 
more than two years, or both.    

 "(e) In addition to any other defenses available by law:

    "(1) No person shall be held to have violated subsection (a) or (d)  
    solely for providing access or connection to or from a facility, 
    system, or network not under that person's control, including 
    transmission, downloading, intermediate storage, access software, or 
    other related capabilities that are incidental to providing such 
    access or connection that does not include the creation of the 
    content of the communication.     

    "(2) The defenses provided by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall 
    not be applicable to a person who is a conspirator with an entity 
    actively involved in the creation or knowing distribution of 
    communications that violate this section, or who knowingly 
    advertises the availability of such communications. 
 
    "(3) The defenses provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall 
    not be applicable to a person who provides access or connection to a 
    facility, system, or network engaged in the violation of this 
    section that is owned or controlled by such person.     

    "(4) No employer shall be held liable under this section for the 
    actions of an employee or agent unless the employee's or agent's 
    conduct is within the scope of his employment or agency and the 
    employer (A) having knowledge of such conduct, authorizes or 
    ratifies such conduct, or (B) recklessly disregards such conduct.     
 
    "(5) It is a defense to a prosecution under sub section (a) or (d) 
    that a person -     
   
       "(A) has taken in good faith, reasonable, effective, and 
     appropriate actions under the circumstances to restrict or prevent 
     access by minors to a communication specified in such subsections, 
     which may involve any appropriate measures to restrict minors from 
     such communications, including any method which is feasible under 
     available technology; or     

       "(B) has restricted access to such communication by requiring use 
     of a verified credit card, debit account, adult access code, or 
     adult personal identification number.     

    "(6) The Commission may describe measures which are reasonable, 
    effective, and appropriate to restrict access to prohibited 
    communications under subsection (d). Nothing in this section 
    authorizes the Commission to enforce, or is intended to provide the 
    Commission with the authority to approve, sanction, or permit, the 
    use of such measures. The Commission has no enforcement authority 
    over the failure to utilize such measures. The Commission shall not  
    endorse specific products relating to such measures. The use of such 
    measures shall be admitted as evidence of good faith efforts for 
    purposes of this paragraph in any action arising under subsection 
    (d). Nothing in this section shall be construed to treat interactive 
    computer services as comm. on carriers or telecommunications 
    carriers.     

 "(f)(1) 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 section or otherwise to restrict or 
 prevent the transmission of, or access to, a communication specified in 
 this section.     

 "(2) No State or local government may impose ant liability for  
 commercial activities or actions by commercial entities, nonprofit 
 libraries, or institutions of higher education in connection with an 
 activity or action described in subsection (a)(2) or (d) that is 
 inconsistent with the treatment of those activities or actions under 
 this section: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall preclude any 
 State or local government from enacting and enforcing complementary 
 oversight, liability, and regulatory systems, procedures, and 
 requirements, so long as such systems, procedures, and requirements 
 govern only intrastate services and do not result in the imposition of 
 inconsistent rights. duties or obligations on the provision of 
 interstate services. nothing in this subsection shall preclude any 
 State or local government from governing conduct not covered by this 
 section.     

 "(g) nothing in subsection (a), (d), (e), or (f) or in the defenses to 
 prosecution under (a) or (d) shall be construed to affect or limit the 
 application or enforcement of any other Federal law.     

 "(h) For purposes of this section   

  "(1) The use of the term 'telecommunications device' in this section  

    "(A) shall not impose new obligations on broadcasting station 
    licensees and cable operators covered by obscenity and indecency 
    provisions elsewhere in this .Act; and

    "(B) does not include the use of an inter active computer service.     
 
  "(2) The term 'interactive computer service' has the meaning provided 
in section 230(f)(2)
     
  "(3) The term 'access software' means software (including client or 
server software) or enabling tools that do not create or provide the 
content of the communication but that allow a user to do any one or more 
of the following: 

     "(A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content;
     "(B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or
     "(C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, 
          organize, reorganize, or translate content.     

 "(4) The term 'institution of higher education' has the meaning 
provided in section 1201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1141).     

 "(5) The term 'library means a library eligible for participation in 
State-based plans for funds under title III of the Library Services and 
Construction Act (20 U.S.C. 355e et seq.).".
 
SEC. 503. OBSCENE PROGRAMMING ON CABLE TELEVISION,
    
  Section 639 (47 U.S.C. 559) is amended by striking "not more than 
$10,000" and inserting "under title 18, United States Code,". 

SEC. 504. SCRAMBLING OF CABLE CHANNELS FOR NONSUBSCRIBERS.

    Part IV of title VI (47 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

"SEC. 640. SCRAMBLING OF, CABLE CHANNELS FOR NONSUBSCRIBERS.

    "(a) SUBSCRIBER REQUEST.  Upon request by a cable service subscriber, 
a cable operator shall, without charge, fully- scramble or otherwise 
fully block the audio and video portion of each channel carrying such 
programming so that one not a subscriber does not receive it.     

    "(b) DEFINITION.  As used in this section, the term 'scramble' means. 
to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the 
program cannot be viewed or heard in an understandable manner.". 
       
SEC. 505. SCRAMBLING OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT ADULT VIDEO SERVICE 
          PROGRAMMING.
 
   (a) REQUIREMENT.  Part IV of title I (47 U.S.C. 551 et seq.), as 
amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following: 

"SEC. 641. SCRAMBLING OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT ADULT VIDEO SERVICE 
           PROGRAMMING.
 
   "(a) REQUIREMENT.  In providing sexually explicit adult programming or 
other programming that is indecent on any channel of its service 
primarily dedicated to sexually-oriented programming, a multichannel 
video programming distributor shall fully scramble or otherwise fully 
block the video and audio portion of such channel so that one not a 
subscriber to such channel or programming does not receive it.     

   "(b) IMPLEMENTATION.   Until a multichannel video programming 
distributor complies with the requirement set forth in subsection (a), 
the distributor shall limit the access of children to the programming 
referred to in that subsection by not providing such program during the 
hours of the day (as determined by the Commission) when a significant 
number of children are likely to view it.     

   "(c) DEFINITION.   As used in this section, the term 'scramble' means 
to rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that the 
programming cannot be viewed or heard in an understandable manner.". 

   "(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. The amendment made b-y subsection (a) shall take 
effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

SEC. 606. CABLE OPERATOR REFUSAL TO CARRY CERTAIN PROGRAMS.     

 (a) PUBLIC, EDUCATION, AND GOVERNMENTAL CHANNELS.  Section 611(e) (47 
U.S.C. 531(e)) is amended by inserting before the period the following: 
", except a cable operator may refuse to transmit any public access 
program or portion of a public access program which contains obscenity, 
indecency, or nudity".     

 (b) CABLE CHANNELS FOR COMMERCIAL USE. Section 612(c)(2) (47 U.S.C. 
532(c)(2)) is amended by striking "an operator" and inserting "a cable 
operator may refuse to transmit any leased access program or portion of 
a leased access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity 
and". 

SEC. 507. CLARIFICATION OF CURRENT LAWS REGARDING COMMUNICATION OF 
          OBSCENE MATERIALS THROUGH THE USE OF COMPUTERS.     

 (a) IMPORTATION OR TRANSPORTATION.   Section 1462 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended   

     (1) in the first undesignated paragraph, by inserting "or 
     interactive computer service (as defined in section 230(f)(2) of 
     the Communications Act of 1934)" after "carrier"; and        

     (2) in the second undesignated paragraph  

       (A) by inserting "or receives," after "takes";

       (B) by inserting "or interactive computer service (as defined in
     section 230(f)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934)" after "common 
     carrier"; and

       (C) by inserting "or importation" after "carriage".

 (b) TRANSPORTATION FOR PURPOSES OF SALE OR DISTRIBUTION. The first 
undesignated paragraph of section 1465 of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended -
    
     (1) by striking "transports in" and inserting "transports or 
     travels in, or uses a facility or means of,";

     (2) by inserting "or an interactive computer service (as defined in 
     section '230(f)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934) in or 
     affecting such commerce" after "foreign commerce" the first place 
     it appears;     

     (3) by striking ", or knowingly travels in" and all that follows 
     through "obscene material in inter state or foreign commerce," and 
     inserting "of". 
   
 (c) INTERPRETATION.   The amendments made by this section are clarifying 
and shall not be interpreted to limit or repeal any prohibition 
contained in sections 1462 and 1465 of title 18, United States Code, 
before such amendment, under the rule established in United States v. 
Alpers, 338 U.S. 680 (1950). 

SEC. 508. COERCION AND ENTICEMENT OF MINORS.

Section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, is amended  

      (1) by inserting "(a)" before "Whoever knowingly"; and

      (2) by adding at. the end the following
   
  "(b) Whoever, using any facility or means of inter state or foreign 
commerce, including the mail, or within the special maritime and 
territorial jurisdiction of the United States, knowingly persuades, 
induces, entices, or coerces any individual who has not attained the age 
of 18 years to engage in prostitution or any sexual act for which     
person may be criminally prosecuted, or attempts to do so shall be fined 
under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.".
 
SEC. 509. ONLINE FAMILY EMPOWERMENT.

Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47   U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

"SEC. 230. PROTECTION FOR PRIVATE BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE   
           MATERIAL
                   
 "(a) FINDINGS. The Congress finds the following:
    
    "(1) The rapidly developing array of Internet and other interactive 
 computer services available to individual Americans represent an 
 extraordinary advance in the availability of educational and 
 informational resources to our citizens.     

    "(2) These services offer users a great degree of control over the 
 information that they receive, as well as the potential for even 
 greater control in the future as technology develops.     

    "(3) The Internet and other interactive computer services offer a 
 forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities 
 for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.     
 
    "(4) The Internet and other interactive computer services have 
 flourished, to the benefit of all Americans. with a minimum of 
 government regulation.     

    "(5) Increasingly Americans are relying on interactive media for a  
 variety of political, educational, cultural, and entertainment 
 services.                   

 "(b) POLICY.  It is the policy of the United States 

    "(1) to promote the continued development of the Internet and other 
 interactive computer services and other interactive media;      

    "(2) to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that 
 presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer 
 services, unfettered by Federal or State regulation;      

    "(3) to encourage the development of technologies which maximize 
 user control over what in formation is received by individuals, 
 families, and schools who use the Internet and other interactive 
 computer services;      

    "(4) to remove disincentives for the development and utilization of 
 blocking and filtering technologies that empower parents to restrict 
 their children's access to objectionable or inappropriate online 
 material; and      

    "(5) to ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal criminal laws to 
 deter and punish trafficking in obscenity, stalking, and harassment by- 
 means of computer.     

 "(c) PROTECTION FOR 'GOOD SAMARITAN BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE 
  MATERIAL.      

    "(1) TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER. No provider or user of an 
 interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or 
 speaker of any information provided by another information content 
 provider.     

    "(2) CIVIL LIABILITY. No provider or user of an interactive computer  
 service shall be held liable on account of      

      "(A) any- action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict 
      access to or availability of material that the provider or user 
      considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively 
      violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not 
      such material is constitutionally protected; or     

      "(B) any action taken to enable or make available to information 
      content providers or others the technical means to restrict access 
      to material described in paragraph (1). 

 "(d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 
   
    "(1) NO EFFECT ON CRIMINAL. LAW. Nothing in this section shall be 
 construed to impair the enforcement of section 223 of this Act, chapter 
 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to exploitation of 
 children) of title 18, United States Code, or any other Federal 
 criminal statute. 

    "(2) NO EFFECT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW. Nothing in this section 
 shall be construed to limit or expand any law pertaining to 
 intellectual property.     

    "(3) STATE LAW. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
 prevent any State from enforcing any State law that is consistent with 
 this section. No cause of action may be brought and no liability may be 
 imposed under any State or local law that is in consistent with this  
 section.     

    "(4) NO EFFECT ON COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY LAW. Nothing in this 
 section shall be construed to limit the application of the Electronic 
 Communications Privacy Act of 1986 or any of the amendments made by 
 such Act, or any similar State law. 

 "(f) DEFINITIONS. As used in this section:     

    "(1) INTERNET. The term 'Internet' means the international computer 
 network of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable packet switched 
 data networks.        

    "(2) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE. The term 'interactive computer
 service' means an information service, system, or access software 
 provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to 
 a computer server, including specifically a service or system that 
 provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services 
 offered by libraries or educational institutions.      

   "(3) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER. The term 'information content 
 provider' means any person or entity that is responsible, in whole or 
 in part, for the creation or development of information provided
 through the Internet or any other interactive computer service.      

   "(4) ACCESS SOFTWARE PROVIDER. The term 'access software provider' 
 means a provider of software (including client or server software), or 
 enabling tools that do any one or more of the following 

     "(A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content;
     "(B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or
     "(C) transmit, receive, display, forward cache, search, subset, 
          organize, reorganize, or translate content.".