47 U.S.C. § 231
Whoever knowingly and with knowledge of the character of the material, in interstate or foreign commerce by means of the World Wide Web, makes any communication for commercial purposes that is available to any minor and that includes any material that is harmful to minors shall be fined not more than $50,000, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
In addition to the penalties under paragraph (1), whoever intentionally violates such paragraph shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50,000 for each violation. For purposes of this paragraph, each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation.
In addition to the penalties under paragraphs (1) and (2), whoever violates paragraph (1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation. For purposes of this paragraph, each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation.
For purposes of subsection (a), a person shall not be considered to make any communication for commercial purposes to the extent that such person is-
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the defendant, in good faith, has restricted access by minors to material that is harmful to minors-
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 subsection or otherwise to restrict or prevent the transmission of, or access to, a communication specified in this section.
A person making a communication described in subsection (a)-
A person making a communication described in subsection (a) may disclose such information if the disclosure is-
For purposes of this subsection,1 the following definitions shall apply:
The term "by means of the World Wide Web" means by placement of material in a computer server-based file archive so that it is publicly accessible, over the Internet, using hypertext transfer protocol or any successor protocol.
A person shall be considered to make a communication for commercial purposes only if such person is engaged in the business of making such communications.
The term "engaged in the business" means that the person who makes a communication, or offers to make a communication, by means of the World Wide Web, that includes any material that is harmful to minors, devotes time, attention, or labor to such activities, as a regular course of such person's trade or business, with the objective of earning a profit as a result of such activities (although it is not necessary that the person make a profit or that the making or offering to make such communications be the person's sole or principal business or source of income). A person may be considered to be engaged in the business of making, by means of the World Wide Web, communications for commercial purposes that include material that is harmful to minors, only if the person knowingly causes the material that is harmful to minors to be posted on the World Wide Web or knowingly solicits such material to be posted on the World Wide Web.
The term "Internet" means the combination of computer facilities and electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and software, comprising the interconnected worldwide network of computer networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to transmit information.
The term "Internet access service" means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet, and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers. Such term does not include telecommunications services.
The term "Internet information location tool" means a service that refers or links users to an online location on the World Wide Web. Such term includes directories, indices, references, pointers, and hypertext links.
The term "material that is harmful to minors" means any communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or other matter of any kind that is obscene or that-
The term "minor" means any person under 17 years of age.
1 So in original. Probably should be "section,".
47 U.S.C. § 231
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATESection effective 30 days after Oct. 21, 1998, see section 1406 of Pub. L. 105-277 set out as a note under section 223 of this title.
CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS Pub. L. 105-277, div. C, title XIV, §14021402,, 112 Stat. 2681-736, provided that: "The Congress finds that-"(1) while custody, care, and nurture of the child resides first with the parent, the widespread availability of the Internet presents opportunities for minors to access materials through the World Wide Web in a manner that can frustrate parental supervision or control;"(2) the protection of the physical and psychological well-being of minors by shielding them from materials that are harmful to them is a compelling governmental interest;"(3) to date, while the industry has developed innovative ways to help parents and educators restrict material that is harmful to minors through parental control protections and self-regulation, such efforts have not provided a national solution to the problem of minors accessing harmful material on the World Wide Web;"(4) a prohibition on the distribution of material harmful to minors, combined with legitimate defenses, is currently the most effective and least restrictive means by which to satisfy the compelling government interest; and"(5) notwithstanding the existence of protections that limit the distribution over the World Wide Web of material that is harmful to minors, parents, educators, and industry must continue efforts to find ways to protect children from being exposed to harmful material found on the Internet."
STUDY BY COMMISSION ON ONLINE CHILD PROTECTION Pub. L. 105-277, div. C, title XIV, §14051405,, 112 Stat. 2681-739, as amended by Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, §1000(a)(9) [title V, §5001(b)-(f), Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-591, 1501A-592; Pub. L. 106-229, title IV, §401, June 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 476, established a Commission to study methods to reduce access by minors to harmful material on the Internet and provided that the Commission would terminate 30 days after submitting a report to Congress or Nov. 30, 2000, whichever occured earlier.