View all text of Subchapter III [§ 941 - § 942]
§ 941. Child-friendly second-level Internet domain
(a) Responsibilities
(b) Conditions of contracts
(1) Initial registry
(2) Successor registries
(c) Requirements of new domainThe registry and new domain shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) Written span standards for the new domain, except that the NTIA shall not have any authority to establish such standards.
(2) Written agreements with each registrar for the new domain that require that use of the new domain is in accordance with the standards and requirements of the registry.
(3) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to use the new domain in accordance with the standards and requirements of the registry.
(4) Rules and procedures for enforcement and oversight that minimize the possibility that the new domain provides access to span that is not in accordance with the standards and requirements of the registry.
(5) A process for removing from the new domain any span that is not in accordance with the standards and requirements of the registry.
(6) A process to provide registrants to the new domain with an opportunity for a prompt, expeditious, and impartial dispute resolution process regarding any material of the registrant excluded from the new domain.
(7) Continuous and uninterrupted service for the new domain during any transition to a new registry selected to operate and maintain new domain or the United States country code domain.
(8) Procedures and mechanisms to promote the accuracy of contact information submitted by registrants and retained by registrars in the new domain.
(9) Operationality of the new domain not later than one year after December 4, 2002.
(10) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to prohibit two-way and multiuser interactive services in the new domain, unless the registrant certifies to the registrar that such service will be offered in compliance with the span standards established pursuant to paragraph (1) and is designed to reduce the risk of exploitation of minors using such two-way and multiuser interactive services.
(11) Written agreements with registrars, which shall require registrars to enter into written agreements with registrants, to prohibit hyperlinks in the new domain that take new domain users outside of the new domain.
(12) Any other action that the NTIA considers necessary to establish, operate, or maintain the new domain in accordance with the purposes of this section.
(d) Option periods for initial registry
(e) Treatment of registry and other entities
(1) In generalOnly to the extent that such entities carry out functions under this section, the following entities are deemed to be interactive computer services for purposes of section 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)):
(A) The registry that operates and maintains the new domain.
(B) Any entity that contracts with such registry to carry out functions to ensure that span accessed through the new domain complies with the limitations applicable to the new domain.
(C) Any registrar for the registry of the new domain that is operating in compliance with its agreement with the registry.
(2) Savings provision
(f) Education
(g) Coordination with Federal GovernmentThe registry selected to operate and maintain the new domain shall—
(1) consult with appropriate agencies of the Federal Government regarding procedures and actions to prevent minors and families who use the new domain from being targeted by adults and other children for predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal actions; and
(2) based upon the consultations conducted pursuant to paragraph (1), establish such procedures and take such actions as the registry may deem necessary to prevent such targeting.
The consultations, procedures, and actions required under this subsection shall be commenced not later than 30 days after the date that the new domain first becomes operational and accessible by the public.
(h) Compliance report
(i) Suspension of new domain
(j) DefinitionsFor purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Harmful to minorsThe term “harmful to minors” means, with respect to material, that—
(A) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors, that it is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest;
(B) the material depicts, describes, or represents, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-pubescent female breast; and
(C) taken as a whole, the material lacks serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
(2) Minor
(3) Registry
(4) Successor registry
(5) Suitable for minorsThe term “suitable for minors” means, with respect to material, that it—
(A) is not psychologically or intellectually inappropriate for minors; and
(B) serves—
(i) the educational, informational, intellectual, or cognitive needs of minors; or
(ii) the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of minors.
(Pub. L. 102–538, title I, § 157, as added Pub. L. 107–317, § 4, Dec. 4, 2002, 116 Stat. 2767.)