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Last Friday, in a town hall
meeting on education in Clarksburg, West
Virginia, President Clinton made some news on
the technology front.
Answering a question from a parent about how
to keep children safe on the Net, the president
talked about the Communications Decency Act's
travails in federal court. Then he said "we're
working on" a technological fix, a V-chip for PCs
that could protect children from harm. Later,
reporters pressed White House aides on
whether there was a new V-chip initiative. The
new chip is out there, they said, somewhere
"within the industry."
From White House transcripts of the event and
later briefings:
Jim Eschenmann: Mr. President, my name is
Jim Eschenmann. I'm a proud parent of a
4-year-old preschooler. Your administration, as
well as the local board of education, has placed
a large emphasis on connecting every classroom
to the Internet. What additional measures can
we take to protect our school students from the
harmful areas of the Internet while guaranteeing
full access to post-secondary students and to
protect the freedom of speech?
President Clinton: Well, you know, I signed a
bill - when I signed the telecommunications bill ...
I had a provision in there to try to protect against
young people being exposed to some of the
harmful things that are on the Internet. Not just
pornography but, as I'm sure a lot of you know
because of the events in the news in the last
couple of years, there are even instructions on
how to build bombs and things like that. There
are lot of things on there that we wouldn't want
our children to see.
That provision has been thrown out by a court
and is still in the courts, I think. So it may be that
what we have to do is try to develop something
like the equivalent of what we're developing for
you for television, like the V-chip, where it's put
in the hands of the parents or the educators.
And then if it were in the hands of the educators
the school board could approve certain
guidelines.
It's technically more difficult with the Internet. As
you know, there are hundreds of new services
being added to the Internet every week. It's
growing at an explosive capacity and we're in
the process actually of trying to develop an
Internet II. But I think that is the answer.
Something like the V-chip for televisions. And
we're working on it. I think it's a serious potential
problem myself.
But let me say it would be a serious potential
problem if they were not in the schools. I think
putting them in the schools, because the kids
are normally under supervision, you have a far
less likelihood that the Internet will be abused or
that the children will be exposed to something
they shouldn't see during the school hours, in all
likelihood, than at home. But I do think you need
guidelines in both places and we're doing our
best to try to figure out if there's some
technological fix we can give you on it.
Briefing by spokeswoman Ann Lewis (22 May):
Q.: Three things that Clinton said - suggesting
V-chips for the Internet, endorsing year-round
schooling, and speaking favorably of high school
competency tests before graduation. Are any of
those new, or are those things he has said
before?
Ann Lewis: From my understanding, looking at
the conversations back and forth on the V-chip
for the Internet, as you know this is a principle
the president has talked about for a long time,
which is giving parents the tools they need, and
it's the principle he referred to when he
supported the - came out in support of the
V-chip. He thinks it continues to be an issue.
Second, if you go back and look at his speech
on Net Day, when he gave a radio address and
we did some talking about the Internet, he
announced that he had asked the Department of
Education and Secretary [Richard] Riley to come
up with a parents' guide to the Internet,
recognizing that it is a wonderful resource but
that many families also feel they could use some
help in ensuring that their children get the most
out of the Internet.
And, third, it's our understanding, and we just
checked this with people at the White House
who know much more about technology than all
of us put together, that there is in fact
technology being developed that would serve as
the equivalent of a V-chip for the Internet, and
we think that's what the president referred to.
Q.: Clinton has talked before about giving
parents ways to protect their children on the
Internet, but has he ever before suggested the
idea of a V-chip for the Internet?
Lewis: Not that we know of, but we know - as is
clear, I think, from his wording, he is aware that
the technology has been developing.
Q.: But has he talked about this before?
Lewis: We don't think so. We were going to try
to do a huge Nexis search; that's going to take a
long time. We don't remember that
conversation....
Q.: You said the technology is being developed
- who is developing it?
Lewis: I can't, but we can get you more
information. It's my understanding it's being
developed within the industry.
Q.: That's like the stuff like Kidsitter and all the
stuff that's already available on the Internet.
There are a lot of sites.
Lewis: There are a lot of sort of monitors you
can put on that. We think this may be a little
more advanced, and we're trying to get more
information.
White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry
and spokesman Barry Toiv (23 May):
Q.: Mike, yesterday the president endorsed the
idea of a V-chip for the Internet. Was that the
first time he did that, and how does the White
House plan to proceed?
Mike McCurry: Did anyone work on that
yesterday? That was - there is some, I think,
R&D work, technical work that's being done to
develop new software. I'm not sure where within
the government they're doing it....
Q.: Mike, I'm still trying to figure out, was
yesterday the first time the president endorsed a
V-chip for the Internet?
McCurry: Did you do any yesterday on the
V-chip question? Barry [Toiv] may have handled
this up in West Virginia yesterday.
Barry Toiv: Well, I'm not sure I have more than
you got yesterday from Ann Lewis. The
president has not specifically mentioned the
V-chip, but this is work that we've been doing
because he's been concerned, obviously, about
ways that parents can help - can protect their
kids with regard to stuff that comes through on
the Internet.
Apparently, it's our understanding that
technology does exist within the industry. It's
being developed by the industry. And so I think
the president was referring to that yesterday.
Q.: Is there any procedure that - I mean, is it
something that - is there any kind of official
"endorsement" you expect?
Toiv: Well, right now - not right at this moment,
but it's something we're looking at.