Res. No. 2008 Title Resolution calling upon the appropriate Committee of the Council of the City of New York to conduct a hearing on the latest state-of-the-art Internet filtering software technology. Body By Council Members Oddo, Clarke, Moskowitz, Golden and Stabile; also Council Members Foster, O'Donovan and Abel Whereas, Under the new Federal Children's Internet Protection Act, enacted in December 2000, all schools and libraries receiving discounts on their telecommunications costs must implement an Internet policy that includes the use of a technology protection measure, also know as filtering technology; and Whereas, It is the present Internet policy of the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library, all of which receive discounts on their telecommunications costs, to provide for unfiltered Internet access to the public; and Whereas, Furthermore, during a January 2001 City Council hearing held by the Committee on Youth Services, the City's libraries testified that education, rather than filtering technology, will foster safe Internet use; and Whereas, The New York City Board of Education, which also receives discounts on their telecommunications costs, has developed an Internet policy and installed filtering technology known as I-Gear; and Whereas, Additionally, more than a dozen products are available to monitor Internet use on individual computers or networks, including eSniff Solution, a computer hardware device that tracks all web and e-mail traffic and analyzes it for content which is deemed inappropriate; and Whereas, The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reports that pedophiles are increasingly using the Internet to contact children and transmit child pornography; and Whereas, A recent survey by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire found that nearly one in five children who go online say they have experienced at least one unwanted sexual advance in cyberspace; and Whereas, Filtering software allows access to an abundance of informational resources on the Internet, while avoiding adult or inappropriate material; and Whereas, Furthermore, while filtering software may be unable to perfectly block all inappropriate material, like air bags and vaccines, they should be employed because they offer a safer alternative; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the appropriate Committee of the Council of the City of New York conduct a hearing on the latest state-of-the-art Internet filtering software technology. BM LS:4395 C:\Resos\Oddo-Internet Filtering 7\11\01