Monday, April 6, 2009

Morris, Thierer Named To Web Safety Panel

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is pulling together the membership of its Online Safety and Technology Working Group, which was created under the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. The 30-member working group will report on industry initiatives to promote online safety and is charged with issuing a report to the Commerce Department within a year of its first meeting. While NTIA has not published a full list of participants, the Center for Democracy and Technology's John Morris and the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Adam Thierer have both been recruited, according to separate announcements from the organizations on Monday.

The group will consist of representatives of relevant sectors of the business community, public interest groups, and other appropriate groups and federal agencies, according to a November Federal Register notice. Appointments will be for a single 15 month term. Specifically, the OSTWG will review and evaluate:

• The status of industry efforts to promote online safety through educational efforts, parental control technology, blocking and filtering software, age-appropriate labels for
content or other technologies or initiatives designed to promote a safe online environment.
• The status of industry efforts to promote online safety among providers of electronic communications services and remote computing services by reporting apparent child pornography, including any obstacles to such reporting.

• The practices of electronic communications service providers and remote computing service providers related to record retention in connection with crimes against children.
• The development of technologies to help parents shield their children from inappropriate material on the Internet.

Update: Jay Opperman, director of security and privacy for Comcast Corporation has also been appointed, sources said.

Update 2: Michael McKeehan, Verizon's executive director for Internet and technology policy and the U.S. Telecom Association's Director of Policy Development Kevin Rupy are also on the panel.