The Federal Communications Commission issued a Public Notice on June 30 to announce that the current suspension of rules concerning online filtering requirements of the Children's Internet Protection Act(CIPA) remains in effect until either the FCC acts, or the recent Supreme Court decision becomes effective, whichever comes first. (By the Supreme Court's own rules, its decision will not take effect prior to July 18.)
The Supreme Court's June 23 decision found CIPA to be constitutional, thereby reversing a lower court ruling. The FCC's original rules implementing CIPA had required schools and libraries with Internet access to certify that they had technology protection measures (filtering) in order to be eligible to receive E-rate discounts.
While the lower court's injunction against online filtering temporarily remains in effect, the FCC said in the weeks ahead it will provide "further guidance on a reasonable schedule for libraries to acquire and install filtering software, consistent with their certification obligations under CIPA."
