Res. No. 1700 Title Resolution calling upon Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and World Wide Web navigational/search directories to examine and regulate the posting of Web sites dedicated to hate speech and violence. Body By Council Members Oddo, Clarke, Dear, Nelson, Warden, Abel, Fiala, Golden and Stabile; also Council Members McCaffrey, Michels, Provenzano and Robinson Whereas, The number of computers with Internet access has topped 200 million worldwide in the new millennium, with a substantial number of users being children; and Whereas, Human rights organizations such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center estimate that there are between 300 and 800 Web sites dedicated purely to hate speech, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and revisionist history, some of which also include "user-friendly tips" on pipe bomb construction along with instructions on how to execute terrorist threats; and Whereas, Children researching the Internet for historical information on slavery or the Holocaust might inadvertently be invited to view one of the many Web sites dedicated to the white nationalist movement advocating that the mass genocide of six million people did not occur, as found on sites such as Storm Front and World Church of the Creator, and many others; and Whereas, The Littleton, Colorado massacre, where thirteen students and a teacher were killed by two of their fellow students - two teens who were known to frequent neo-Nazi and pipe bomb building Web sites, and who chose to carry out this massacre on April 20, Hitler's birthday; and Whereas, Other individuals known to frequent hate-oriented Web sites were responsible for some of the most notorious acts of domestic terrorism including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 166 people, and the North Valley Jewish Community Center shootings in 1999, in which one person was killed and five were injured, including three children; and Whereas, Hate information with a propensity to incite violence was formerly available primarily by way of pamphlets and leaflets ordinarily reaching only hundreds, today, because of a medium with few boundaries or regulations, this information now reaches millions; and Whereas, Other forms of media, such as television and radio, have chosen not to distribute these messages of hatred; and Whereas, A recent decision by Yahoo! Inc., a popular worldwide Web search directory, to ban online auctions of Nazi artifacts and other hate-related materials, sends a message that multi-billion-dollar Internet communications and commerce corporations can sustain a bottom line without profiting from materials which promote hate and glorify violence; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon ISPs and World Wide Web navigational/search directories to examine and regulate the posting of Web sites dedicated to hate speech and violence. LS # 3797