Bill Seeks a Way for Parents to Block Out Computer Smut

Two congressmen from opposite sides of the political spectrum will weigh in today on the raging controversy over smut in cyberspace with a bill designed to help parents block children’s access to sexually explicit photos and messages sent over computer networks.

Reps. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has often championed the high-technology industry, said they will introduce a bill that will rely on technology rather than federal regulation to give parents a way to prevent offending material from coming into the home.

Few details of the measure were available late Thursday. But the two lawmakers have previously said their bill would help people use technology to block pictures, perhaps by requiring that the government or industry educate consumers about how to use software to block such material or by promoting an industry standard for such technology.

Controlling indecency on computer networks has becoming a hot issue on Capitol Hill as the House leadership works feverishly to complete a bill that will overhaul the nation’s 61-year-old communications laws.

Although House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other leaders oppose federal restraints on the Internet and other media, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a telecommunications reform measure that imposes jail terms and fines of up to $100,000 on people who knowingly transmit indecent material over the Internet.

The companion House telecommunications measure is expected to be brought to the floor for a vote in mid- or late July, according to Rep. Jack Fields (R-Tex.), who chairs the House Commerce, Telecommunications and Finance subcommittee.

Cox and Wyden said their measure will be less regulatory and punitive than the Senate bill. And several Internet advocates who spoke out against the Senate indecency provision Thursday expressed encouragement for the two congressmen’s legislative efforts.

Although Fields could not be reached Thursday to comment on Cox and Wyden’s bill, he told The Times earlier this week that he and Gingrich are staunchly against such laws.

“I’m opposed to anything that has to do with content regulation,” Fields said.