| "The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was signed into law on December
21, 2000. Under CIPA, no school or library may receive discounts unless it
certifies that it is enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes the
use of filtering or blocking technology (see below). This Internet Safety
Policy must protect against access, through computers with Internet access, to
visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or (in the case of use
by minors) harmful to minors. The school or library must also certify that it
is enforcing the operation of such filtering or blocking technology during any
use of such computers by minors. The law is effective for Funding Year 4
(07/01/2001 to 06/30/2002) and for all future years. Schools and libraries
receiving only Telecommunications Services are excluded from the requirements
of CIPA.
For the first Funding Year (Funding Year 4 for Year 4 applicants), applicants
must certify on their Form 486 either that they are in compliance with CIPA, or
that they are undertaking actions to put into place an Internet Safety Policy
and to procure the filtering or blocking technology. For the second year (for
most applicants, Funding Year 5), they must certify on their Form 486 that they
are in compliance with CIPA in order to receive universal service discounts.
However, if state or local procurement rules or regulations or competitive
bidding requirements prevent the making of the required CIPA certifications,
applicants may seek a waiver and provide notification that they will be in
compliance before the start of the third Funding Year (for most applicants,
Funding Year 6.) In general, local communities are responsible for determining
what constitutes prohibited material and appropriate actions by schools and
libraries."
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