H.C.R. 3

1

RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO STOP
2 INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY TO CHILDREN
3 AND EMPLOYEES
4 2007 GENERAL SESSION
5 STATE OF UTAH
6 Chief Sponsor: Bradley M. Daw
7 Senate Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble
8
9 LONG TITLE
10 General Description:
11 This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor urges the United States
12 Congress to take action to help stop children and employees from accessing Internet
13 pornography.
14 Highlighted Provisions:
15 This resolution:
16 . urges the United States Congress to take action to help stop children and employees
17 from accessing Internet pornography; and
18 . urges the United States Congress to enact legislation to facilitate a technology-based
19 solution allowing parents and employers to obtain Internet access services that
20 exclude adult content.
21 Special Clauses:
22 None
23
24 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
25 WHEREAS, the Internet has become an extremely important and popular means of
26 exchanging information, and is relied upon in Utah for business, education, recreation, and
27 other uses;

28 WHEREAS, many Internet sites contain material that is pornographic, either obscene or
29 inappropriate for children, and a majority of these sites originate within the United States but
30 outside of the state of Utah;
31 WHEREAS, the availability of Internet pornography on the job costs Utah employers
32 significant numbers of work hours, strains employers' computer equipment, reduces
33 productivity, and leads to potentially hostile work environments for men and women;
34 WHEREAS, while the custody, care, and nurturing of children resides primarily with
35 parents, the widespread availability of Internet pornography and the ability of children to
36 circumvent existing filtering technology defeat the best attempts at parental supervision or
37 control;
38 WHEREAS, Internet pornographers use evolving techniques to lure Utah children and
39 others into viewing and purchasing pornographic material, defying existing technology
40 designed to block adult content;
41 WHEREAS, current methods for protecting computers and computer networks from
42 unwanted Internet content are expensive, block more than the intended content, and are easily
43 circumvented;
44 WHEREAS, because children, employees, and others may seek out pornography,
45 warnings and other labels meant to help avoid inadvertent hits on pornographic sites may
46 simply increase the likelihood that these sites will be visited;
47 WHEREAS, credit card verification systems burden credit card companies, are
48 expensive and time consuming to establish and maintain, and inhibit legal speech;
49 WHEREAS, other forms of age verification have not been practicable;
50 WHEREAS, prior Congressional attempts to address children's access to Internet
51 pornography have been held unconstitutional or otherwise have not passed constitutional
52 scrutiny;
53 WHEREAS, prior Congressional attempts to address children's access to Internet
54 pornography have not been based on technology that allows individual Internet users to select
55 what kind of Internet content enters their homes and work spaces;
56 WHEREAS, protecting the physical and psychological well-being of Utah's children by
57 shielding them from inappropriate materials is a compelling interest of the Legislature of the
58 State of Utah;

59 WHEREAS, protecting the right of Utah's citizens to control what materials enter their
60 homes and other private property is a compelling interest of the Legislature of the State of
61 Utah;
62 WHEREAS, although the State of Utah has taken rigorous action in an attempt to shield
63 Utah's children from obscenity and other inappropriate adult content, it cannot effectively curb
64 the problems with Internet pornography within its borders without the support of the United
65 States government;
66 WHEREAS, the United States remains in control of the Internet through the
67 Department of Commerce, and the National Telecommunication and Information Association;
68 and
69 WHEREAS, the United States has the ability to create appropriate policies and
70 enforcement tools to effectively deal with these issues:
71 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
72 Governor concurring therein, strongly urges the United States Congress to take action to help
73 stop children and employees from accessing Internet pornography.
74 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor strongly urge the
75 United States Congress to seriously consider enacting legislation to facilitate a
76 technology-based solution that allows parents and employers to subscribe to Internet access
77 services that exclude adult content.
78 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Majority
79 Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
80 the President of the United States, and the members of Utah's congressional delegation.




Legislative Review Note
as of 11-16-06 9:09 AM

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel