Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service: Children's Internet Protection Act

In this document, the Commission adopts interim measures for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism in response to the decision issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The court held that section 1721(b) of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), codified at 47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6), was facially unconstitutional and enjoined the Commission from withholding federal funds from any public library for failure to comply with the Internet-filtering requirements of the provision. In keeping with the court's injunction, we suspend enforcement of those portions of Sec. 54.520 of our rules implementing the provision pending final judicial action by the Supreme Court. We also adopt certain specific measures to ensure that libraries that have applied for discounted services under the schools and libraries support mechanism are not denied such discounts because of lack of compliance with the unconstitutional CIPA requirements. Finally, we direct the Universal Service Administrative Company to implement the necessary changes to program procedures and forms. We take these steps to respond promptly to the court's mandate and to ensure that the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism continues to operate in accordance with federal law.